Written in an engaging and accessible manner, this work traces the origins of the abolition of serfdom. It also shows how the reform process linked the old social, economic and political order of 18th-century Russia with the radical transformations of the 19th and 20th centuries.
In February 1861 Tsar Alexander II issued the statutes abolishing the institution of serfdom in Russia. Drawing on recent research by Russian and Western historians, David Moon provides an up-to-date interpretation of this major development in Russian history. Abolition is presented as a process rather than an 'event', and both its origins in 1762 and its culmination in 1907 are examined. Engaging and accessible, the text is supported by a document selection from sources previously unavailable in English translation, a glossary, chronology, and a guide to further reading.
