Andrei Cusco is Director of the Center for Empire Studies at the Department of History and Philosophy within Moldova State University.

• Introduction, Conceptual Framework and Historiographical Overview, Chronological and Thematic Structure of the Book, I. Empire- and Nation-Building in Russia and Romania, II. Southern Bessarabia as an Imperial Borderland, III. Rituals of Nation and Empire in Early Twentieth-Century Bessarabia, IV. Three Hypostases of the Bessarabian Refugee, V. Revolution, War, and the Bessarabian Question: Russian and Romanian Perspectives, Conclusion, Instead of an Epilogue: Autonomy, Federalism, or National Unification (1917-18)?, Bibliography, Index

"Andrei Cusco’s book provides the background to understanding the rival territorial claims made by Romania and the Soviet Union with regard to Bessarabia in the interwar era (the so-called “Bessarabian question”). In so doing, the book also provides the historical context for the competing claims of the Soviet Union/Russia and Romania in Moldova in more recent decades. This is a thorough work that draws upon unpublished documents from the Russian State Historical Archive, the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, and the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova. As the writing is quite dense in places, it is a work that will appeal to those with some prior knowledge of the history of Bessarabia and is a useful addition to the available works in English on this contested borderland."

Andrei Cusco is Director of the Center for Empire Studies at the Department of History and Philosophy within Moldova State University.

• Introduction, Conceptual Framework and Historiographical Overview, Chronological and Thematic Structure of the Book, I. Empire- and Nation-Building in Russia and Romania, II. Southern Bessarabia as an Imperial Borderland, III. Rituals of Nation and Empire in Early Twentieth-Century Bessarabia, IV. Three Hypostases of the Bessarabian Refugee, V. Revolution, War, and the Bessarabian Question: Russian and Romanian Perspectives, Conclusion, Instead of an Epilogue: Autonomy, Federalism, or National Unification (1917-18)?, Bibliography, Index

"Andrei Cusco’s book provides the background to understanding the rival territorial claims made by Romania and the Soviet Union with regard to Bessarabia in the interwar era (the so-called “Bessarabian question”). In so doing, the book also provides the historical context for the competing claims of the Soviet Union/Russia and Romania in Moldova in more recent decades. This is a thorough work that draws upon unpublished documents from the Russian State Historical Archive, the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, and the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova. As the writing is quite dense in places, it is a work that will appeal to those with some prior knowledge of the history of Bessarabia and is a useful addition to the available works in English on this contested borderland."

Andrei Cusco is Director of the Center for Empire Studies at the Department of History and Philosophy within Moldova State University.

• Introduction, Conceptual Framework and Historiographical Overview, Chronological and Thematic Structure of the Book, I. Empire- and Nation-Building in Russia and Romania, II. Southern Bessarabia as an Imperial Borderland, III. Rituals of Nation and Empire in Early Twentieth-Century Bessarabia, IV. Three Hypostases of the Bessarabian Refugee, V. Revolution, War, and the Bessarabian Question: Russian and Romanian Perspectives, Conclusion, Instead of an Epilogue: Autonomy, Federalism, or National Unification (1917-18)?, Bibliography, Index

"Andrei Cusco’s book provides the background to understanding the rival territorial claims made by Romania and the Soviet Union with regard to Bessarabia in the interwar era (the so-called “Bessarabian question”). In so doing, the book also provides the historical context for the competing claims of the Soviet Union/Russia and Romania in Moldova in more recent decades. This is a thorough work that draws upon unpublished documents from the Russian State Historical Archive, the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, and the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova. As the writing is quite dense in places, it is a work that will appeal to those with some prior knowledge of the history of Bessarabia and is a useful addition to the available works in English on this contested borderland."