The Human Tradition in Modern Russia

Why do Russians act the way they do? This basic question ultimately underlies every attempt to understand Russia and to place its past and present in broader context. This work is an examination of the grassroots dimension of social continuity and change in Russia since 1861, and it reintegrates into the historical record individuals and groups usually under-represented in the study of Russia. The volume discusses Russian society from the late-19th century to the beginning of the 21st century in essays on such diverse topics as divorce, sex education, drinking behaviour, alternative youth culture, scientific study circles, the promotion of Soviet atheism and the cultural revolution, Nikolai Ezhov and Stalin’s secret police, and the transformation of Russians’ personal lives after the fall of the Soviet regime.