Politics and Culture in Eighteenth-Century Russia

This is a collection of thirteen major essays on eighteenth-century Russia by one of the most distinguished Western historians. They illustrate and explore three major themes: the development of the Russian state and Russian society, in the years when Russia was changing from a minor power on the European periphery to a major actor on the continental stage; the influence of western ideas and western thought on Russian politics and culture; and the impact of the Enlightenment on Russia. This is a substantial contribution not just to the history of Russia, but to early modern Europe generally. <p><b>Part One: Russian Government and Society. </b><br>1. Tsar into Emperor:the title of Peter the Great. <br>2. Autocracy and Sovereignty. <br>3. Portrait of an Eighteenth-Century Russian Statesman: Prince Dmitry Mikhaylovich Golitsyn. <br>4. The Eighteenth-Century Origin of Russian Civil Rights. <br><b>Part Two: Social and Administrative Problems. </b><br>5. Penal Policy in the Age of Catherine II. <br>6. Catherine and the Serfs: A Reconstruction of Some Problems. <br>7. Freemasonry in Eighteenth-Century Russian Society. <br>8. The Foundation of the Russian Educational System by Catherine II. <br><b>Part Three: Catherine II, Russian society and the world of ideas. </b><br>9. Catherine the Great. <br>10. Catherine and the Philosophes. <br>11. Catherine and Montesquieu: Between M.M. Shcherbatovand Denis Diderot. <br>12. The Enlightenment in Russia. <br>13. The Role of Catherine II in the Literacy Life of Russia. <br>Index.</p>