diff --git a/ext/leveldb/leveldb.cc b/ext/leveldb/leveldb.cc
index d2dd9fa..8b6c429 100644
--- a/ext/leveldb/leveldb.cc
+++ b/ext/leveldb/leveldb.cc
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ static VALUE c_no_compression;
 static VALUE c_snappy_compression;
 static VALUE k_fill;
 static VALUE k_verify;
+static VALUE k_snapshot;
 static VALUE k_sync;
 static VALUE k_from;
 static VALUE k_to;
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ static ID k_to_s;
 static leveldb::ReadOptions uncached_read_options;
 
 static VALUE c_db_options;
+static VALUE c_snapshot;
 static VALUE k_create_if_missing;
 static VALUE k_error_if_exists;
 static VALUE k_paranoid_checks;
@@ -54,6 +56,11 @@ typedef struct bound_db {
   leveldb::DB* db;
 } bound_db;
 
+typedef struct bound_snapshot {
+  const leveldb::Snapshot* snapshot;
+  VALUE v_db;
+} bound_snapshot;
+
 static void db_free(bound_db* db) {
   if(db->db != NULL) {
     delete db->db;
@@ -233,9 +240,16 @@ static leveldb::ReadOptions parse_read_options(VALUE options) {
 
     VALUE v_fill = rb_hash_aref(options, k_fill);
     VALUE v_verify = rb_hash_aref(options, k_verify);
+    VALUE v_snapshot = rb_hash_aref(options, k_snapshot);
 
     if(!NIL_P(v_fill)) readOptions.fill_cache = RTEST(v_fill);
     if(!NIL_P(v_verify)) readOptions.verify_checksums = RTEST(v_verify);
+
+    if(!NIL_P(v_snapshot)) {
+      bound_snapshot* sn;
+      Data_Get_Struct(v_snapshot, bound_snapshot, sn);
+      readOptions.snapshot = sn->snapshot;
+    }
   }
 
   return readOptions;
@@ -274,6 +288,9 @@ static leveldb::WriteOptions parse_write_options(VALUE options) {
  *                                verified against corresponding checksums.
  *
  *                                Default: false
+ * [options[ :snapshot ]] If value is a Snapshot instance, read from that version of DB.
+ *
+ *                        Default: nil
  * [return] value of stored db
  */
 static VALUE db_get(int argc, VALUE* argv, VALUE self) {
@@ -416,11 +433,14 @@ static VALUE iter_make(VALUE klass, VALUE db, VALUE options) {
   bound_db* b_db;
   Data_Get_Struct(db, bound_db, b_db);
 
+  leveldb::ReadOptions read_options = parse_read_options(options);
+  read_options.fill_cache = false;
+
   current_iteration* iter = new current_iteration;
   iter->passed_limit = false;
   iter->check_limit = false;
   iter->checked_valid = 0;
-  iter->iterator = b_db->db->NewIterator(uncached_read_options);
+  iter->iterator = b_db->db->NewIterator(read_options);
 
   VALUE o_iter = Data_Wrap_Struct(klass, NULL, current_iteration_free, iter);
 
@@ -636,10 +656,123 @@ static VALUE db_batch(int argc, VALUE* argv, VALUE self) {
   return Qtrue;
 }
 
+static void bound_snapshot_mark(bound_snapshot* b_sn) {
+  rb_gc_mark(b_sn->v_db);
+}
+
+static void bound_snapshot_free(bound_snapshot* b_sn) {
+  if (b_sn->snapshot && rb_during_gc()) {
+    bound_db* b_db;
+    Data_Get_Struct(b_sn->v_db, bound_db, b_db);
+    b_db->db->ReleaseSnapshot(b_sn->snapshot);
+  }
+  // If not rb_during_gc, then ruby vm is finalizing, and db either has been freed
+  // (in which case we can't call ReleaseSnapshot) or is about to be freed (in which
+  // case we don't need to).
+  delete b_sn;
+}
+
+static VALUE snapshot_make(VALUE klass, VALUE v_db) {
+  if (c_db != rb_funcall(v_db, k_class, 0)) {
+    rb_raise(rb_eArgError, "db must be a LevelDB::DB");
+  }
+
+  bound_db* b_db;
+  Data_Get_Struct(v_db, bound_db, b_db);
+
+  bound_snapshot* b_sn = new bound_snapshot;
+  b_sn->snapshot = b_db->db->GetSnapshot();
+  b_sn->v_db = v_db;
+  VALUE o_snapshot = Data_Wrap_Struct(klass, bound_snapshot_mark, bound_snapshot_free, b_sn);
+
+  VALUE argv[1];
+  argv[0] = v_db;
+  rb_obj_call_init(o_snapshot, 1, argv);
+
+  return o_snapshot;
+}
+
+static VALUE snapshot_init(VALUE self, VALUE v_db) {
+  return self;
+}
+
+/*
+ * call-seq:
+ *   db()
+ *
+ * [return] the db that the snapshot references.
+ */
+static VALUE snapshot_db(VALUE self) {
+  bound_snapshot* b_sn;
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, bound_snapshot, b_sn);
+  return b_sn->v_db;
+}
+
+/*
+ * call-seq:
+ *   release()
+ *
+ * Release the snapshot; after calling this method, the snapshot can still be used,
+ * but it reads from the current database state.
+ *
+ * [return] self.
+ */
+static VALUE snapshot_release(VALUE self) {
+  bound_snapshot* b_sn;
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, bound_snapshot, b_sn);
+
+  if (b_sn->snapshot) {
+    bound_db* b_db;
+    Data_Get_Struct(b_sn->v_db, bound_db, b_db);
+    b_db->db->ReleaseSnapshot(b_sn->snapshot);
+    b_sn->snapshot = NULL;
+  }
+
+  return self;
+}
+
+/*
+ * call-seq:
+ *   released?()
+ *
+ * [return] true if the snapshot has been released, false otherwise.
+ */
+static VALUE snapshot_released(VALUE self) {
+  bound_snapshot* b_sn;
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, bound_snapshot, b_sn);
+  return b_sn->snapshot ? Qfalse : Qtrue;
+}
+
+/*
+ * call-seq:
+ *   exists?()
+ *
+ * [return] true if the key exists in the snapshot of the db, false otherwise.
+ */
+static VALUE snapshot_exists(VALUE self, VALUE v_key) {
+  Check_Type(v_key, T_STRING);
+
+  bound_snapshot* b_sn;
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, bound_snapshot, b_sn);
+
+  leveldb::Slice key = RUBY_STRING_TO_SLICE(v_key);
+  std::string value;
+  leveldb::ReadOptions options;
+  options.snapshot = b_sn->snapshot;
+
+  bound_db* b_db;
+  Data_Get_Struct(b_sn->v_db, bound_db, b_db);
+  leveldb::Status status = b_db->db->Get(options, key, &value);
+
+  if(status.IsNotFound()) return Qfalse;
+  return Qtrue;
+}
+
 extern "C" {
 void Init_leveldb() {
   k_fill = ID2SYM(rb_intern("fill_cache"));
   k_verify = ID2SYM(rb_intern("verify_checksums"));
+  k_snapshot = ID2SYM(rb_intern("snapshot"));
   k_sync = ID2SYM(rb_intern("sync"));
   k_from = ID2SYM(rb_intern("from"));
   k_to = ID2SYM(rb_intern("to"));
@@ -689,6 +822,14 @@ void Init_leveldb() {
 
   c_db_options = rb_define_class_under(m_leveldb, "Options", rb_cObject);
 
+  c_snapshot = rb_define_class_under(m_leveldb, "Snapshot", rb_cObject);
+  rb_define_singleton_method(c_snapshot, "make", RUBY_METHOD_FUNC(snapshot_make), 1);
+  rb_define_method(c_snapshot, "initialize", RUBY_METHOD_FUNC(snapshot_init), 1);
+  rb_define_method(c_snapshot, "db", RUBY_METHOD_FUNC(snapshot_db), 0);
+  rb_define_method(c_snapshot, "release", RUBY_METHOD_FUNC(snapshot_release), 0);
+  rb_define_method(c_snapshot, "released?", RUBY_METHOD_FUNC(snapshot_released), 0);
+  rb_define_method(c_snapshot, "exists?", RUBY_METHOD_FUNC(snapshot_exists), 1);
+
   VALUE m_ctype = rb_define_module_under(m_leveldb, "CompressionType");
   VALUE c_base = rb_define_class_under(m_ctype, "Base", rb_cObject);
   c_no_compression = rb_define_class_under(m_ctype, "NoCompression", c_base);
diff --git a/lib/leveldb.rb b/lib/leveldb.rb
index 5d6209c..9b949de 100644
--- a/lib/leveldb.rb
+++ b/lib/leveldb.rb
@@ -59,6 +59,19 @@ def iterator(*args); Iterator.new self, *args end
   def keys; map { |k, v| k } end
   def values; map { |k, v| v } end
 
+  def snapshot(*args)
+    sn = Snapshot.new self, *args
+    if block_given?
+      begin
+        yield sn
+      ensure
+        sn.release
+      end
+    else
+      sn
+    end
+  end
+
   def inspect
     %(<#{self.class} #{@pathname.inspect}>)
   end
@@ -85,6 +98,38 @@ class << self
   end
 end
 
+# Snapshot has the same API as DB, restricted to read access.
+class Snapshot
+  include Enumerable
+
+  def self.new(db)
+    make db
+  end
+
+  def each(*args, &block)
+    i = iterator(*args)
+    i.each(&block) if block
+    i
+  end
+
+  def get(*args)
+    db.get(*args, snapshot: self)
+  end
+
+  alias :[] :get
+  alias :includes? :exists?
+  alias :contains? :exists?
+  alias :member? :exists?
+
+  def iterator(*args); db.iterator *args, snapshot: self end
+  def keys; map { |k, v| k } end
+  def values; map { |k, v| v } end
+
+  def inspect
+    %(<#{self.class} #{db.inspect} #{' (released)' if released?}>)
+  end
+end
+
 class Options
   DEFAULT_MAX_OPEN_FILES = 1000
   DEFAULT_WRITE_BUFFER_SIZE = 4 * 1024 * 1024
diff --git a/test/snapshot_test.rb b/test/snapshot_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d40ed1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/snapshot_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+require 'test/unit'
+require File.expand_path("../../lib/leveldb", __FILE__)
+require 'fileutils'
+
+class SnapshotTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  DB_PATH = "/tmp/snapshot-%s.db"
+
+  attr_reader :db
+
+  def initialize(name)
+    super
+    @path = DB_PATH%name
+    FileUtils.rm_rf @path
+    @db = LevelDB::DB.new @path
+  end
+
+  KEYS = %w{ k1 k2 k3 }
+
+  def setup
+    KEYS.each do |k|
+      db[k] = "0"
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_get
+    sn = db.snapshot
+    KEYS.each do |k|
+      db[k] = "1"
+    end
+    KEYS.each do |k|
+      assert_equal "0", sn[k]
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_iterator
+    sn = db.snapshot
+    KEYS.each do |k|
+      db[k] = "1"
+    end
+    sn.each do |k,v|
+      assert_equal "0", v
+    end
+    assert_equal KEYS, sn.keys
+    assert_equal ["0"], sn.values.uniq
+  end
+
+  def test_exists
+    sn = db.snapshot
+    db["new"] = "new"
+    db.delete "k1"
+    assert_equal false, sn.exists?( "new" )
+    assert_equal true,  sn.exists?( "k1"  )
+    assert_equal true,  db.exists?( "new" )
+    assert_equal false, db.exists?( "k1"  )
+  end
+
+  def test_release
+    sn = db.snapshot
+    KEYS.each do |k|
+      db[k] = "1"
+    end
+
+    assert_equal false, sn.released?
+    sn.release
+    assert_equal true, sn.released?
+
+    sn.each do |k,v|
+      assert_equal "1", v
+    end
+  end
+
+  def teardown
+    FileUtils.rm_rf @path
+  end
+end