Heretics and Colonizers

Nicholas B. Breyfogle is Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University. He is coeditor of Peopling the Russian Periphery: Borderland Colonization in Eurasian History and the online magazine Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective.

• AcknowledgmentsNote on Translation and TransliterationAbbreviationsMapsIntroductionPART I: THE ROAD TO TRANSCAUCASIA1. Toleration through IsolationThe Edict of 1830 and the Origins of Russian Colonization in Transcaucasia2. To a Land of PromiseSectarians and the Resettlement ExperiencePART II: LIFE ON THE SOUTH CAUCASIAN FRONTIER3. "In the Bosom of an Alien Climate"Ecology, Economy, and Colonization4. Heretics into ColonizersChanging Roles and Transforming Identities on the Imperial Periphery5. Frontier EncountersConflict and Coexistence between Colonists and South CaucasiansPART III: THE DUKHOBOR MOVEMENT6. From Colonial Settlers To Pacifist InsurgentsThe Origins of the Dukhobor Movement, 1887–18957. Peasant Pacifism and Imperial InsecuritiesThe Burning of Weapons, 1895–1899The End of an Era and Its MeaningsSelected BibliographyIndex

Heretics and Colonizers builds on the vision of the Russian Empire as a complex and multilevel system marked by social and administrative diversity. It is a very important book that should appeal to students of religion, nationalism, and empire in both Russian and European contexts.(American Historical Review) An outstanding work of scholarship, Heretics and Colonizers offers fresh insight into the subtle and complex relationships between religious sectarianism, tsarist nation-building, and frontier identity. By delving into the lives of Dukhobors, Molokans, and Subbotniks in the Caucasus, Nicholas B. Breyfogle reveals the rich tapestry of Russia's sectarian past. It is the most comprehensive, the most reliable, and the most readable book on this subject and period that I have encountered.(Doukhobor Genealogy Website) Breyfogle's book is an important contribution to the social, cultural, and environmental history of Russian imperialism and popular religiosity.(Slavic Review) The long history of Russia's self-colonization has been marked by a combination of compulsion and voluntarism. Here Nicholas B. Breyfogle explores a fascinating element of that history, which illustrates graphically the contradictions in the policies pursued by the Russian state.(Slavonic and East European Review) This is a book that all specialists in imperial Russia, the Caucasus, and Russian religion need to read. It should also be required for those interested in Russian frontiers or environmental history. It is, finally, accessible and well suited to classroom use.(Canadian American Slavic Studies)