Politics And Culture In Eighteenth Century Russia

This collection of essays on 18th-century Russia challenges the conventional view of imperial Russia as a semi-barbaric outsider on the periphery of continental Europe. The book also explores the way Russia absorbed and participated in the European Enlightenment. This is a collection of thirteen major essays on eighteenth-century Russia by one of the most distinguished Western historians. They illustrate and explore three major themes: the development of the Russian state and Russian society, in the years when Russia was changing from a minor power on the European periphery to a major actor on the continental stage; the influence of western ideas and western thought on Russian politics and culture; and the impact of the Enlightenment on Russia. This is a substantial contribution not just to the history of Russia, but to early modern Europe generally.