The theme of this publication is Russian portraits over the past hundred years, painting a vivid picture of every period in the twentieth century. The more than 400 illustrations were all taken from the collection of the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg, home to the world's largest collection of Russian art.

The various movements and styles in which twentieth-century artists worked are widely reflected in portraiture. Those whose lives are indelibly linked to the events of the past century are depicted in realistic and avant-garde forms, constituting an unbroken chain of Russian history in faces.