I have to work on a country file - we're supposed to include the concepts of feudalism, evolution of state/nation etc in the time period mentioned above. Seeing as I usually focus on contemporary world history, I'm not quite sure where to start looking. I know this is not really a historical question per se, but I do hope someone could point me in the right direction.
The resources can be in German, French or English.
EDIT: I should probably mention that I already consulted the book list, but the literature about Russia listed there seems to be dealing with rather recent events.
How much depth do you want? Initially, I'd recommend Riasonovsky's A History of Russia, because it covers the entirety of Russian history in fairly good depth, but I can recommend more specific books for certain areas, which might be more useful.
I've looked for something similar, and it struck me as very difficult to find anything on Russia in that period.
If you can find a copy that isn't in Danish, I found that "Politikens Ruslandshistorie", or "Politikens History of Russia" covered more than any text I managed to find.
But you will probably want to read about the Tzars, the Crimean wars, the Muscovy unification of Russia and the expansion towards the East. Should give you a clear enough picture of how Russia became what it is.