The book summed up materials and conclusions by A. S. Prugavin, one of the most well-known specialist in the history of Russian Sectarianism of the nineteenth – early twentieth centuries. He discussed manifestations of Sectarianism both in the low classes, and in the upper layers of the society. In 1892, the book was prohibited and destroyed on the order of the Committee of Ministers of the Russian Empire, but a part of copies were saved.
The book consists of two parts: the first one – on the dissemination of Sectarianism ‘down”, among common people (he noted the fast temps: there are 14 000 000 Sectarians in Russia, p.18); the second one – on Sectarianism among educated people. He mentioned the typical features of the ‘contemporary Sectarian movement’, fixing rationalistic ideas (Molokans, Stundists), overcoming ‘mystical element’, characteristic for Khlysts, Shaloputs, and Skoptsy. He also noted the importance of social elements in Russian Sectarianism. He described also the religious movement organized by Siutaev, mentioned ‘prisoners of conscience’ exiled to the Solovetsky Convent in the White Sea. In the second part he told about the disseminations of Skoptsy and Khlysts among the elite; the final essay was about the Apostolic sects in St. Petersburg.