Serfdom

One of the ugliest phenomena in the life of Russia in the eighteenth–nineteenth centuries was serfdom. The land question, which was not fully resolved, became one of the causes of the 1917 Revolution, so serfdom continued to influence Russian society even after it was abolished. In history and literature lessons, students are told about the stages of the enslavement of peasants and the implementation of legislative reforms, but what is hidden behind the dry lines of textbooks? The new book in the “Complete History of the Era” series is not just a study of how and why the institution of serfdom formed and developed in Russia, but also an attempt to trace the fates of specific people broken by the unjust design of society. Interesting historical facts, portraits of landlords and outstanding serfs, a description of the psychology and worldview of the time—this is what you will find on the pages of the book.
• Whom did Praskovya Zhemchugova truly love?
• Could a serf pull out a sick tooth without the permission of the landlord?
• Who was nicknamed “the Whipped Lord Chamberlain”?
• Who helped the artist Tropinin obtain freedom?