Spies and ScholarsA Financial Times Book of the Year Gold Medal in World History, Independent Publisher Book Awards "Superb At once a history of science, of empire, and of espionage, the book traces the rise of the Russian empire as a putative rival to Qing dynasty China in the Far East. Afinogenov has chosen a genuinely compelling cast of characters to populate this story of imperial intrigue." New Rambler "The history of Sino Russian relations appears in a much