Russia in the Early Modern World

Donald Ostrowski is distinguished lecturer in history at Harvard University.

• PrefaceIntroduction: The Problem with Russian History Chapter 1.Ecological Zones and Expansion Strategies: The Russians Establish an Empire Chapter 2. A Roadmap to the Landowning Class and Court Politics Chapter 3.Military Techniques, Tactics, and StrategiesChapter 4.Gunpowder, Germans, and Iron: Early Modern Russia’s Pre-Industrialized EconomyChapter 5.Governmental Institutions, Organizations, and the Legal System in the Afro Eurasian context Chapter 6.The Three-Cornered Relationships: Church and State Chapter 7.The Icon and the Chronicle: An Interpretive Commentary on Early Modern Russian Culture Conclusion: Putting Peter in His Place GlossaryBibliographyAbout the Author

This informative book provides a thematic analysis of Russian history during the early modern period. Challenging the familiar notion that the reign of Peter I (“the Great”) marked an epochal turning point in Russian history, Ostrowski insists that “between 1450 and 1800, there are no turning points, just more or less continuous trends” (p. 13). Rather than focus on Russia’s relation to a vaguely conceptualized Europe or West, he emphasizes the importance of “influence flows” (p. 9) across the Eurasian continent as a whole, arguing that the periodization of world history into premodern, early modern, and modern is more appropriate for Russia than the familiar division between pre-Petrine and modern periods. He depicts a “continuity of change” during Russia’s early modern period in thematic chapters on the expansion of the empire, court politics, the military, the economy, government institutions, the relationship between church and state, and culture and education. His provocative claims are accompanied by detailed historiographical discussion, making the book a useful overview of and contribution to key debates that have shaped the field. Highly recommended. Graduate students and faculty.