Filaret Drozdov was one of the most prominent and controversial Russian Orthodox prelates of the nineteenth century, but studies of him and his ideas have been sparse. Trained as a theologian, he was a professor of theology in the ecclesiastical academy of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and served as Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna for over forty years, from 1826 until his death in 1867. From that position he was involved in a number of ‘burning issues’ of the day, including persecution of Old Believers, emancipation of the serfs, translation of the Bible into Russian, updating the catechism and the relationship between the Church and the State. He wrote the succession decree in 1823 for Tsar Alexander i whereby in the event of Alexander's death, his eldest son, Konstantin, would abdicate in favour of his younger brother Nicholas. Filaret engaged in a poetic exchange with Pushkin, but his views were not liked by intellectuals of the ‘extraordinary decade’, the 1840s, for being too conservative and for seeming to support the tsarist government excessively. The conservatives, in contrast, thought his revision of the catechism was too liberal and disliked his attempts to defend church authority against state power. In this intellectual biography, Nicholas Racheotes (Professor Emeritus of Framingham State University) places Filaret in the tradition of those Russian Orthodox prelates who, as outlined by Robert L. Nichols, contributed to the educational and professional development of Russia while being cognisant of European intellectual thinking. In that sense, Filaret was a worthy successor to Platon Levshin, who as Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna (1775−1812) was in the forefront of efforts to integrate European Enlightenment ideas into traditional Russian Orthodox thought. In his role as organiser and patron of the Trinity Lavra seminary, Platon noticed Filaret when he was studying there and began mentoring him, perhaps preparing him to be his successor as metropolitan. Racheotes writes that ‘[o]ver the course of his long career … [Filaret] was to have extraordinary influence over the words of three Tsars and became the acknowledged specialist of that style’ that became associated with imperial proclamations. According to Racheotes, Filaret found ‘useful analogies, historical parallels, and inspiration in’ the ‘Golden Age’ of the Byzantine Empire (843−1025). In part as a result of this historical influence, ‘Filaret preached … a worshipful understanding of Russia, sanctified by its religious orthodoxy, observant of the sacraments, and protected by a spiritualized monarchy’ (p. 276). In addition, Filaret was known for his sermons, from which Racheotes quotes extensively. They provide the reader with a direct understanding of Filaret's ideas and preaching style. Racheotes also discusses Filaret's administration of the Moscow metropolitanate, his handling of criticism both from within the Church and outside it, and his propounding of a consistent vision for the future of the Russian Orthodox Church. It may be a cliché to say so, but this book does indeed fill a significant gap in the historiography.