v. 1. From the earliest years through Tsar Ivan IV -- v. 2. The patriarchal era through Peter the Great 1586-1725 -- v. 3. The Synodal era and the sectarians 1725 to 1894 -- v. 4. The Orthodox Church 1894 to 1990 : Tsar Nicholas II to Gorbachev's edict on the freedom of conscience