Life on the Russian Country Estate: A Social and Cultural History
The Russia of the old regime was an overwhelmingly rural society even at the dawn of the twentieth century. Like the plantation owners of our antebellum South, the landed aristocrats of Russia saw themselves as the standard-bearers and protectors of their national culture and "gentlemanly values." Even after the end of legal serfdom in 1861, these large islands of wealth continued to dominate rural Russian life. In her richly detailed and lavishly illustrated work, Roosevelt portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and contradictions of this society. It was an intensely patriarchal society in which oriental elements often seemed to outweigh Western traditions. Surprisingly, these manors, supposedly anchors of conservatism, often generated movements for political reform. From both a historical and a sociological standpoint, Roosevelt has done a fine job of showing us the values, rhythms, and achievements of a vanished world.Jay Freeman