The Holy Mountain of Athos is a self-governing monastic republic on a peninsula in Northern Greece. Standing on the shores of the Aegean Sea is one of the twenty ruling monasteries that comprise the republic, that of St Panteleimon - the only one of the twenty to carry a distinct Russian character. This book is the first comprehensive account in the English language of the thousand-year Russian presence on Athos, from Zylourgou to the Russian House to today’s St Panteleimon’s, including its 19th c. apogee and post-Soviet revival. Amongst the themes explored in the book are ethnic relations, the Pan-Orthodox ideal, the role of money and political pressure, sanctity and heroism in adversity, and the importance of historical memory and precedent. This text will be invaluable to both academic historians and the educated lay reader. It is complimented by a timeline, glossary, comprehensive bibliography, index, full colour illustrations and photographs. AUTHOR: Nicholas Fennell holds a MA in Modern and Mediaeval Languages from Trinity College Cambridge, where he was a Senior Scholar, and a PhD from Southampton University. He is a member of the Friends of Mount Athos and of of the Institute of the Athonite Heritage. The author of three previous books on Athonite Russian history, he has been researching and visiting Mount Athos since the 1980s. 24 colour illustrations