Abstract
Scholars have struggled to come to grips with the era of Alexander I (1801–1825), who has generally been considered an ambivalent and indecisive monarch. Consequently, it has been much harder to politically define tsarist Russia than the eras of rulers who preceded him and who are either known as ‘great’ rulers or hold sobriquets explaining their strengths or shortcomings. As a result, Alexander’s rule remains a much-debated period in Russian history. This article asks the question whether a more coherent narrative concerning Alexander’s reign is possible when approaching tsarist Russia from interdisciplinary perspective, including studies in the fields of cultural, economic, political, and social history published in English, German, and Russian.