When Russia Learned to Read : Literacy and Popular Literature, 1861-1917
Brooks surveys commercial presses which published cheap tales and penny newspapers for the emancipated peasant. After a slow start on the uses and spread of literacy and education, the book picks up steam as it describes the ventures, their publishers and authors, and typical plots and characters of the tales. Brooks devotes individual chapters to the themes of freedom and order, national identity, science and superstition, and success, contrastng them to those of similar works from Europe and the United States. He also discusses efforts by the government and intelligentsia to publish more edifyiny reading for the lower classes. A clearly written work that offers fresh insight into Russian society. Mary F. Zirin, Altadena, Cal.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.