The Human Tradition in Modern Russia

(Paperback)

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Description

By integrating the human dimension into Russian history, this lively textbook introduces Russian social history since 1861 to readers in provocative and interesting new ways. The essays in this unique collection are based largely on previously classified Russian archival information available only since 1991. Bringing in the perspectives of individuals and groups usually overlooked, the authors give the reader a grassroots view of modern Russia. The Human Tradition in Modern Russia is an ideal for courses on Russian history and civilization and modern European history.

Reviews

This original and instructive volume based on the latest scholarly work is a colorful series of episodes that illuminates important themes in the social and cultural history of modern Russia. -- Laura Engelstein, Princeton University
I highly recommend The Human Tradition in Modern Russia as a supplementary text for undergraduate courses in Russian history. It presents thirteen short, accessible, and engaging essays on aspects of daily life and popular culture spanning the late Imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods. Each section is usefully contextualized with a brief but substantive introduction. The essays explore such issues as health care; sexuality and prostitution; dress, dance, and consuming culture; popular religious belief and church authority; the juxtaposition of popular belief and 'modern' scientific assertion' and the confusing choices that ordinary Russians have confronted in the post-Soviet period. This new book provides an important corrective to texts focused on politics and them men in the Kremlin. -- Heather Hogan, Oberlin College
The Human Tradition in Modern Russia offers fascinating insights into some of the vital parts of Russian society that are almost never touched by textbooks. Solidly based on newly opened archives, the essays in this collection offer students the opportunity to become acquainted with some of the newest thinking by some of the field's leading experts. No other collection on the market accomplishes this task so well. -- W. Bruce Lincoln, Nothern Illinois University

Author Bio

William B. Husband is professor in the Department of History at Oregon State University.