Serfdom

One of the ugliest phenomena in the life of Russia in the XVIII–XIX centuries was serfdom. The unresolved land issue became one of the causes of the 1917 Revolution, so serfdom influenced Russian society even after its abolition. In history and literature classes, students are told about the stages of the serfdom of peasants and the implementation of legislative reforms, but what lies behind the dry lines of textbooks? The new book in the series "The Complete History of the Eras" is not just a study of how and why the institution of serfdom arose and developed in Russia, but also an attempt to trace the fates of specific people, broken by the unjust structure of society. Interesting historical facts, portraits of landowners and outstanding serfs, descriptions of the psychology and worldview of that time – this is what you will find on the pages of the book.

• Who did Praskovya Zhemchugova really love?

• Could a serf pull out a painful tooth without the landowner's permission?

• Who was nicknamed the "flayed chamberlain"?

• Who helped the artist Tropinin gain his freedom?