The article reviews a new monograph by the famous Ural historian Professor D. V. Gavrilov. It considers a large period of history of the Ural region, covering the second half of the XIX century. Technical innovations and socio-economic, political and cultural reforms are characterized. The conclusion is drawn about the historical validity, not the randomness of the revolutionary upheavals of the early twentieth century. The book is of undoubted interest to historians, and all those interested in the history of Russia and the Ural region.