David Nicolle was born in 1944. He worked in the BBC Arabic service for a number of years, before gaining a doctorate from Edinburgh University. He has written many books and articles on medieval warfare, and has been a prolific author of Osprey titles for many years. David lives in Leicestershire, UK. Viacheslac Shpakovsky was born in 1954. He teaches in the History Department of Penza University in Penza, Russia. He has written a number of articles on various aspects of Russian and military history for both academic journals and popular magazines in Russia.

Angus McBride is one of the world's most respected historical illustrators and has contributed to more than 90 Osprey titles. Born in 1931, he worked in advertising agencies from 1947, and after national service, emigrated to South Africa. He now lives in Cape Town.

It is generally assumed that the military reforms which propelled Russia into the modern world were due solely to the genius of Peter the Great. In fact, his reforms were built upon changes that had taken place during the previous 200 years, since the creation in 1550 of Russia's first full-time military force - the streltsi - by Ivan IV the Terrible. This account traces Russia's armies from that beginning, through the creation of paid regular regiments from1630, up to the reign of Peter the Great. It is illustrated with rare early drawings, photos of surviving artifacts, and dazzling colour reconstructions of exotic military costumes.