Empires and Emperors of Russia, China, Korea, and Japan / Notes and Recollections by Monsignor Count Vay de Vaya and Luskod

The memoir records travels across Russia, Siberia, Manchuria, Korea, China, and Japan, offering close observations of imperial courts, rulers, and domestic life. It follows long railway journeys on the Trans-Siberian, describing cities and landscapes from St. Petersburg through Irkutsk and Lake Baikal to Harbin, Mukden, Port Arthur, Dalny, and Niu-chwang. It examines Russian administration, military deployments, and engineering projects in Manchuria, alongside local customs, commerce, missionary activity, and ethnographic notes. Personal encounters with officials and clergy illustrate hospitality and social manners. Interwoven are political reflections on the region's tensions and modernization on the eve of conflict, presented as contemporary impressions and forecasts.