The article focuses on the history of the fundamental volume “Russia” written by one of the first British Russianists Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace (1841—1919). First published in 1877, the book went through nineteen editions and was subsequently revised and rewritten twice by the author, taking into account new realities created by the 1905 Revolution and subsequent events. His “Russia” has been translated into many languages and is considered to be a piece of a “gold pool” of Russian studies. The story of this book being entwined with the life of its author at the same time permits to trace the trajectory of Russian studies up to its take-off in the 1960s when the second wave of republishing it in the USA took place. Wallace’s life history was full of events: he studied at the universities of Scotland, France, and Germany, travelled a lot, being a correspondent for “The Times” and later — its first Director of the Foreign Department. He was a private secretary to the Viceroy and Governor-general of India Lord Dufferin from 1884 to 1889, later he became a friend and adviser of King Edward VII contributing a lot to concluding the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907. Wallace visited Russia many times, firstly spending there more than five years in 1870-1875; his last visit to the country was in 1912 — as a member of the group of British parliamentarians. His name is associated with the emergence of British Russophilism at the beginning of the 20th century. In his book Wallace represented exceptionally balanced description of Russia, its social groups and peoples as well as its institutions including communal landholding and serfdom. The article shows that the value of Wallace 's work as a historical source was underestimated before. By now, when the attention of historians has turned to the multinational character of the Russian Empire, the early, complete editions of Wallace's “Russia” have regained their relevance.