Russia's Age of Serfdom 1649-1861 offers a broad interpretive history of the Russian Empire from the time of serfdom's codification until its abolition following the Crimean War.
Russia's Age of Serfdom 1649-1861 offers a broad interpretive history of the Russian Empire from the time of serfdom's codification until its abolition following the Crimean War. Coverage focuses on those of the empire's European territories populated predominantly by ethnic Russian peasants.
The book is divided into three chronological periods, each containing chapters on society, politics, and culture. The chapters on society consider the institution of serfdom, official social categories, and Russia's development as a country of peasants ruled by nobles, military commanders, and civil servants. Political chapters illuminate the reality of absolute monarchy in Russia, with special emphasis on the mobilization of human and material resources, the search for regular government, and the persistence of personal-moral forms of authority. Finally, the cultural chapters trace the emergence of modern Russian culture out of and alongside Orthodox religious culture, a process embodied in the Europeanization and growing independence of Russian elite society and in the emergence of political and cultural dissent.
