Download or read book Living Water Vodka and Russian Society on the Eve of Emancipation written by David Christian and published by Clarendon Press. This book was released on 1990-07-26 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a study of the social, economic, and political role of Vodka in nineteenth-century Russia. Since the `Green Serpent' first appeared in sixteenth-century Muscovy, it has played a vital part in Russian life. Vodka became an essential part of Russian working-class celebrations: personal, religious, and commercial. Trade in Vodka redistributed wealth upwards through Russian society over several centuries. Indeed, Russia's status as a great power was underpinned by it: by the nineteenth century, it generated one-third of government revenue - enough to cover most of the costs of the vast army. The dependence on Vodka of both people and state has endured into the Gorbachev era. But despite Vodka's key role in Russian history, and the complex network of corruption associated with it, the subject has been ignored by most historians until now. This study concentrates on an important transitional era in the history of Vodka: the early nineteenth century. During this period, Vodka taxes played the role that salt taxes had played in the ancien r--eacute--;gime in France. The abolition of the tax farm in 1863 should be seen as one of the most important of the `Great Reforms' of the 1860s, an era which, in many ways, parallels the glasnost of the 1980s.

Download or read book Vodka Politics written by Mark Lawrence Schrad and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-06 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Russia is famous for its vodka, and its culture of extreme intoxication. But just as vodka is central to the lives of many Russians, it is also central to understanding Russian history and politics. In Vodka Politics, Mark Lawrence Schrad argues that debilitating societal alcoholism is not hard-wired into Russians' genetic code, but rather their autocratic political system, which has long wielded vodka as a tool of statecraft. Through a series of historical investigations stretching from Ivan the Terrible through Vladimir Putin, Vodka Politics presents the secret history of the Russian state itself-a history that is drenched in liquor. Scrutinizing (rather than dismissing) the role of alcohol in Russian politics yields a more nuanced understanding of Russian history itself: from palace intrigues under the tsars to the drunken antics of Soviet and post-Soviet leadership, vodka is there in abundance. Beyond vivid anecdotes, Schrad scours original documents and archival evidence to answer provocative historical questions. How have Russia's rulers used alcohol to solidify their autocratic rule? What role did alcohol play in tsarist coups? Was Nicholas II's ill-fated prohibition a catalyst for the Bolshevik Revolution? Could the Soviet Union have become a world power without liquor? How did vodka politics contribute to the collapse of both communism and public health in the 1990s? How can the Kremlin overcome vodka's hurdles to produce greater social well-being, prosperity, and democracy into the future? Viewing Russian history through the bottom of the vodka bottle helps us to understand why the "liquor question" remains important to Russian high politics even today-almost a century after the issue had been put to bed in most every other modern state. Indeed, recognizing and confronting vodka's devastating political legacies may be the greatest political challenge for this generation of Russia's leadership, as well as the next.

Download or read book Women and Work in Russia 1880 1930 written by Jane Mcdermid and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-09-19 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study considers the impact of industrialisation, revolution and world war on women's working lives in Russia. Unlike existing studies this new text looks at women from all social classes. In the process the authors reveal how the stereotypical portrayal of Russian women's work as a struggle of endurance and sacrifice distorts and oversimplifies the reality of their experience between 1880 and 1930.

Download or read book Russia in the Age of Reaction and Reform 1801 1881 written by David Saunders and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-30 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This eagerly awaited study of Russia under Alexander I, Nicholas I and Alexander II -- the Russia of War and Peace and Anna Karenina -- brings the series near to completion. David Saunders examines Russia's failure to adapt to the era of reform and democracy ushered into the rest of Europe by the French Revolution. Why, despite so much effort, did it fail? This is a superb book, both as a portrait of an age and as a piece of sustained historical analysis.

Download or read book Cultures in Flux written by Stephen P. Frank and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1994-07-05 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The popular culture of urban and rural tsarist Russia revealed a dynamic and troubled world. Stephen Frank and Mark Steinberg have gathered here a diverse collection of essays by Western and Russian scholars who question conventional interpretations and recall neglected stories about popular behavior, politics, and culture. What emerges is a new picture of lower-class life, in which traditions and innovations intermingled and social boundaries and identities were battered and reconstructed. The authors vividly convey the vitality as well as the contradictions of social life in old regime Russia, while also confronting problems of interpretation, methodology, and cultural theory. They tell of peasant death rites and religious beliefs, family relationships and brutalities, defiant peasant women, folk songs, urban amusement parks, expressions of popular patriotism, the penny press, workers' notions of the self, street hooliganism, and attempts by educated Russians to transform popular festivities. Together, the authors portray popular culture not as a static, separate world, but as the dynamic means through which lower-class Russians engaged the world around them. In addition to the editors, the contributors to this volume are Daniel R. Brower, Barbara Alpern Engel, Hubertus F. Jahn, Al'bin M. Konechnyi, Boris N. Mironov, Joan Neuberger, Robert A. Rothstein, and Christine D. Worobec.

Download or read book Cabbage and Caviar written by Alison K. Smith and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2021-05-19 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When people think of Russian food, they generally think either of the opulent luxury of the tsarist aristocracy or of post-Soviet elites, signified above all by caviar, or on the other hand of poverty and hunger—of cabbage and potatoes and porridge. Both of these visions have a basis in reality, but both are incomplete. The history of food and drink in Russia includes fasts and feasts, scarcity and, for some, at least, abundance. It includes dishes that came out of the northern, forested regions and ones that incorporate foods from the wider Russian Empire and later from the Soviet Union. Cabbage and Caviar places Russian food and drink in the context of Russian history and shows off the incredible (and largely unknown) variety of Russian food.

Download or read book The Jews in Poland and Russia written by Antony Polonsky and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2009-12-10 with total page 567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive survey—socio-political, economic, and religious—of Jewish life in Poland and Russia. Wherever possible, contemporary Jewish writings are used to illustrate how Jews felt and reacted to new situations and ideas.

Download or read book Russian Nationalism Since 1856 written by Astrid S. Tuminez and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thoughtful book describes the range of nationalist ideas that have taken root in Russia since 1856. Drawing on a wide range of archival documents and unparalleled interview material from the post-Soviet period, Tuminez analyzes two cases_Russian panslavism in 1856-1878 and great power nationalism in 1905-1914_when aggressive nationalist ideas clearly influenced Russian foreign policy and contributed to decisions to go to war. Yet not all forms of nationalism have been malevolent, and the author assesses competing nationalist ideologies in the post-Soviet period to clarify the conditions under which a particularly belligerent nationalism could flourish and influence Russian international behavior.

Download or read book The Russian Imperial Army 1796917 written by Roger Reese and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-11-30 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The majority of the articles assembled in this volume reflect social-historical methodology, which is used to show the relationship between the tsarist army and society while focusing on the Russian historical experience. In each case, whether it be a study of the soldiers as peasants, alcoholism, the nationalities, officers, military justice, social and legal reform and mutiny or revolution, the inescapable conclusion arises that the army was at all times a reflection of the many social problems, aspirations, or political thought of the broader imperial Russian civil society. In short, this anthology treats the Russian military as a window on the symbiotic triangular relationship between army, state and society.

Download or read book The School of Sophisticated Drinking written by Kersten Ehmer and published by Greystone Books Ltd. This book was released on 2015 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The school of sophisticated drinking" traces the deep-seated lineage of drinking in the social, political, and even scentific developments of our culture. Inspired by an ongoing series of lectures at Berlin's legendary Potsdamer Strasse cocktail den, the Victoria Bar, this comprehensive books delves into the sociopolitical significance of and technological innovations behind a familiar wine or spirit-- brandy, vodka, whisky, rum, gin, tequila, and champagne-- and shares plenty of tales of libational adventure. Whether you're an expert drinker or a novice barfly, it'll give you plenty to contemplate inside your glass. --- From back cover.

Download or read book Imperial Russia written by J. Paxton and published by Springer. This book was released on 2000-11-17 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imperial Russia provides an accessible reference tool for students, researchers, historians and Russian history enthusiasts. It covers the period from Ivan IV to the death of Nicholas II. There are chronologies for each of the reigns and the handbook covers important political and administrative changes, the influence of the West, religion, serfdom, and economic progress. Wars and international relations are succinctly explained as is the rise of radicalism and the revolutions of 1905 and 1917. Other sections deal with education, the arts, law, press and censorship. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Soviet and East European history.

Download or read book Eat History written by Sofia Eriksson and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2014-07-24 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eat History offers fascinating new insights into the emerging field of gastronomic studies and its intersection with cultural history, and includes the writing of nine leading historians on topics ranging from vodka to patty cakes. Though primarily focused on Australia, the transnational nature of many of the essays widens the scope to include Russia and the British Empire, as well as Italy. With its engaging and entertaining tone, the volume will prove to be of interest not only to researchers and academics in the field, but to more general readers keen to discover how the consideration of food opens up whole new areas of history and points the way to fruitful future inquiry.

Download or read book Duelling the Russian Cultural Imagination and Masculinity in Crisis written by Amanda DiGioia and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-10-12 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, written from a feminist perspective, uses the focus of duelling to discuss the nature of masculinity in Russia. It traces the development of duelling and masculinity historically from the time of Peter the Great onwards, considers how duelling and masculinity have been represented in both literature and film and assesses the high emphasis given in Soviet times to gender equality, arguing that this was a failed experiment that ran counter to Russian tradition. It examines how duelling continues to be a feature of life in contemporary Russia and relates the situation in Russia to wider scholarship on the nature of masculinity more generally. Overall, the book contends that Russia’s valuing of a strong, militaristic form of masculinity is a major problem.

Download or read book Beyond the Pale written by Benjamin Nathans and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2004-04-29 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A surprising number of Jews lived, literally and figuratively, 'beyond the Pale' of Jewish Settlement in tsarist Russia during the half-century before the Revolution of 1917. This text reinterprets the history of the Russian-Jewish encounter, using long-closed Russian archives and other sources.

Download or read book The Political Power of Bad Ideas written by Mark Lawrence Schrad and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-03-24 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Political Power of Bad Ideas, Mark Schrad uses one of the greatest oddities of modern history--the broad diffusion throughout the Western world of alcohol-control legislation in the early twentieth century--to make a powerful argument about how bad policy ideas achieve international success. His could an idea that was widely recognized by experts as bad before adoption, and which ultimately failed everywhere, come to be adopted throughout the world? To answer the question, Schrad utilizes an institutionalist approach and focuses in particular on the United States, Sweden, and Russia/the USSR. Conventional wisdom, based largely on the U.S. experience, blames evangelical zealots for the success of the temperance movement. Yet as Schrad shows, ten countries, along with numerous colonial possessions, enacted prohibition laws. In virtually every case, the consequences were disastrous, and in every country the law was ultimately repealed. Schrad concentrates on the dynamic interaction of ideas and political institutions, tracing the process through which concepts of dubious merit gain momentum and achieve credibility as they wend their way through institutional structures. He also shows that national policy and institutional environments count: the policy may have been broadly adopted, but countries dealt with the issue in different ways. While The Political Power of Bad Ideas focuses on one legendary episode, its argument about how and why bad policies achieve legitimacy applies far more broadly. It also extends beyond the simplistic notion that "ideas matter" to show how they influence institutional contexts and interact with a nation's political actors, institutions, and policy dynamics.

Download or read book Russia s Great Reforms 1855 1881 written by Ben Eklof and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1994-06-22 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Great Reforms undertaken during the reign of Alexander II represented a unique attempt by the tsarist government to restructure virtually every aspect of Russian life, beginning with the emancipation of the serfs and continuing through reforms of local government, the judiciary, the military, education, the financial system, censorship, and other domains. This volume, the work of an international group of scholars that includes historians from Russia, maps out the major landmarks in the conceptualization and implementation of the Great Reforms during the reign of Alexander II and proposes a variety of perspectives from which to view them. -- From publisher's description.

Download or read book A History of Russia Central Asia and Mongolia Volume II written by David Christian and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-01-08 with total page 740 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an all-encompassing look at the history of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia Beginning with the breakup of the Mongol Empire in the mid-thirteenth century, Volume II of this comprehensive work covers the remarkable history of “Inner Eurasia,” from 1260 up to modern times, completing the story begun in Volume I. Volume II describes how agriculture spread through Inner Eurasia, providing the foundations for new agricultural states, including the Russian Empire. It focuses on the idea of “mobilization”—the distinctive ways in which elite groups mobilized resources from their populations, and how those methods were shaped by the region’s distinctive ecology, which differed greatly from that of “Outer Eurasia,” the southern half of Eurasia and the part of Eurasia most studied by historians. This work also examines how fossil fuels created a bonanza of energy that helped shape the history of the Communist world during much of the twentieth century. Filled with figures, maps, and tables to help give readers a fuller understanding of what has transpired over 750 years in this distinctive world region, A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia: Volume II: Inner Eurasia from the Mongol Empire to Today, 1260-2000 is a magisterial but accessible account of this area’s past, that will offer readers new insights into the history of an often misunderstood part of the world. Situates the histories of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia within the larger narrative of world history Concentrates on the idea of Inner Eurasia as a coherent ecological and geographical zone Focuses on the powerful ways in which the region’s geography shaped its history Places great emphasis on how “mobilization” played a major part in the development of the regions Offers a distinctive interpretation of modernity that highlights the importance of fossil fuels Offers new ways of understanding the Soviet era A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia: Volume II is an ideal book for general audiences and for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in world history. The Blackwell History of the World Series The goal of this ambitious series is to provide an accessible source of knowledge about the entire human past, for every curious person in every part of the world. It will comprise some two dozen volumes, of which some provide synoptic views of the history of particular regions while others consider the world as a whole during a particular period of time. The volumes are narrative in form, giving balanced attention to social and cultural history (in the broadest sense) as well as to institutional development and political change. Each provides a systematic account of a very large subject, but they are also both imaginative and interpretative. The Series is intended to be accessible to the widest possible readership, and the accessibility of its volumes is matched by the style of presentation and production.