Historians of Reddit, can you recomed any any books on the topic of the Russian Army through out the era of muskets and black powder?
Sure can do! I love collecting tons of books on early modern warfare that i probably will die without having read through them all, so let me share just a few i have
For a general overview of the rise of the early modern Russian military you can check out "Russia’s Wars of Emergence 1460-1730" that tackle the period in question, for a broader overview on eastern and northern European warfare in the period you can also check out "The Northern Wars: War, State and Society in Northeastern Europe, 1558–1721". Those tackle earlier centuries so for a good source that also goes hard on 18th and 19th centuries is "The Military History of Tsarist Russia" which of course also deals with that period in which they start using smokeless powder and repeating rifles, if you're into that lame stuff :p. For a really nice and often unseen perspective on the peoples of the steppes whom the Russian state and military closely interacted with you have "Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 1500-1700". Yet another source that focuses not only on Russia but on its southern and eastern neighbours is "Russia marches South: Army Reform and Battlefield Performance in Russia’s Southern Campaigns, 1695-1739". Finally another book that tackles a bunch of interesting specific topics on Russian and Eastern European warfare as a whole is " Warfare in Eastern Europe, 1500-1800"
Happy reading!