1999 0-7734-3130-6 The book is devoted to the initial stage of the Siberian Cossacks – the origin and formation of the first Cossacks’ “forces” in the Trans-Ural . On a strictly documented basis, the author shows the role of the Siberian Cossacks in the annexation of Siberia to the Russian state, in the exploration and developing of Northern Asia, and reveals the sources of the astonishing fortitude and military craftsmanship of the Cossacks of Asian Russia.