This volume brings together a group of some of the most outstanding scholars in political science, history, and historical sociology to examine the causes of imperial decline and collapse of the Russian, Ottoman, and Habsburg empires.

How Empires End -- The End of Empires -- Collapse of Empires: Causes -- Thinking About Empire -- The Ottoman Empire -- The Habsburg Empire -- The Russian Empire -- The Soviet Union -- Collapse of Empires: Consequences -- Thinking About Consequences of Empire -- The Ottoman Empire -- The Habsburg Empire -- The Russian Empire -- Aftermaths of Empire and the Unmixing of Peoples -- Conclusion