Since the centenary of World War I last year, there has been a spate of new books that have covered the war from many angles. However, there has been nothing of significance on Russia's involvement, until now.

British scholar Dominic Lieven, a specialist on Russia, has drawn on untapped source material from the Moscow archives to explore Russia's part in the war's origins and the ensuing factors that led to revolution. His at times radical reinterpretation of the causes of both seismic events is supported by keen analysis and cogent and convincing arguments.

Lieven begins in imperial 19th-century Europe and chronicles the rise and spread of ethnic nationalist movements. A chapter on the colossal Russian Empire focuses on the challenges of running it and the relationship between the autocratic czar and the landowning nobility.

As Lieven brings Russia into the 20th century, there is a sharp increase in narrative momentum. We see the results of disastrous Russian foreign policy, whether humiliation from Japanese military victory in 1905 or Austro-Hungarian diplomatic triumph at the end of the Bosnian crisis of 1909. Balkan wars and the "snake pits of rival factions" within the Serbian political world help stoke the temperature in Europe to the boiling point. As one Russian diplomat admitted: "This is a finely balanced game and in its consequences a terrifying one."

By the time world war breaks out in 1914 — what Lieven calls "year zero" for Russia and Germany — we are in the last quarter of the book. Lieven shows how lack of an inspiring, troop-motivating wartime leader, appalling casualties and the influence of mad monk Rasputin undermined the monarchy's legitimacy and led to the Bolshevik seizure of power and revolution.

By prioritizing causes over consequences, Lieven charts less familiar territory for lay readers of Russian history.

Dominic Lieven

"The End of Tsarist Russia" feels like an extended prologue, yet one with all the drama, intrigue and insight of the main act. Only Lieven's third, longest and most populous chapter proves tough going, comprising as it does numerous potted biographies of key decisionmakers — myriad ministers, aristocrats and diplomats.

Lieven tries to pre-empt criticism by warning us at the outset that this section may be a "hard chew," but this doesn't make the glut of information he serves up any easier to digest.

Otherwise, Lieven resoundingly impresses, not the least when he goes out on a limb with many fresh and original claims. World War I "turned on the fate of Ukraine," was "first and foremost an eastern European conflict" and only "truly ended when the Soviet Army took Berlin in May 1945." The revolution transformed Russia while contributing enormously "to Europe's descent into further catastrophe in 1939."

It is not often that a work of outstanding scholarship is also a gripping read. That, however, is precisely what Lieven has delivered.

Malcolm Forbes has written for the Times Literary Supplement, the Economist and the Daily Beast. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.