This book, written from a feminist perspective, uses the focus of duelling to discuss the nature of masculinity in Russia. It traces the development of duelling and masculinity historically from the time of Peter the Great onwards, considers how duelling and masculinity have been represented in both literature and film and assesses the high emphasis given in Soviet times to gender equality, arguing that this was a failed experiment that ran counter to Russian tradition. It examines how duelling continues to be a feature of life in contemporary Russia and relates the situation in Russia to wider scholarship on the nature of masculinity more generally. Overall, the book contends that Russia’s valuing of a strong, militaristic form of masculinity is a major problem.

This book explores the history of Russian peasant bride theft - abduction, capture - from the adoption of Christianity in Kievan Rus in the late tenth century to the very early twentieth century. It argues that bride theft in eighteenth and nineteenth century Russia was practised in large part by, but not exclusively by, Old Believers, the schismatics who rejected the Church reforms of the mid-seventeenth century and shunned contact with the Orthodox Church; and that the point of bride theft, where the bride was often a willing party, often married secretly at night by an Orthodox priest acting illegally, was to absolve the bride and her parents of the responsibility for engaging in a formal Orthodox ritual which Old Believers regarded as sinful. The book also considers how bride theft originated much earlier in Russia and was a continuing tradition in some places, and how all this fitted into the Russian peasant economy. Throughout the book provides rich details of particular bride theft cases, of Russian peasant life, and of Russian folklore, in particular bridal laments.

Manchuria, the name given to China’s North-eastern provinces by foreign powers, has been contested by China, Russia and Japan in particular over many centuries. This book surveys the history of Manchuria, focusing particularly on the Russian and Soviet perspective. It outlines early colonisation of the region and examines the importance of the Chinese Eastern Railway, a branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the remarkable railway city of Harbin for consolidating the Russian presence in the region and for developing the region’s economy. It goes on to consider twentieth century developments, including the Japanese invasion and the puppet state of Manchukuo. Throughout, the book reflects on the nature of empire, especially Russian/Soviet imperialism and its similarities to and differences from other nations’ imperial ventures.

Research on the East Slavs in the medieval period has considerably changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The emergence of new states forced a rethinking of many aspects of the history and culture of the early East Slavs as the subject became increasingly disentangled from the umbrella of Byzantine studies and fruitful collaboration was fostered between scholars worldwide. This book, which brings together scholars from Russia, Ukraine, western Europe and North America, of several generations, presents a broad overview of the main results of the last three decades of research and mutual collaboration. This is important work, providing a much-needed counterbalance to studies of western Europe in the period, which has been the main focus of study, with the lands of the East Slavs relatively neglected.

This book explores the impact on different generations of Lithuanians of the fifty-year Soviet modernisation project which was implemented in Lithuania from 1940 to 1991. It reveals the specific characteristics of ‘the last Soviet generation’, born in the 1970s, and sets this generation apart from those who were born earlier and later. It analyses changes in attitudes, choices and relationships in a variety of social spheres and contexts and the adaptation skills which were required during the late Soviet and post-Soviet transformation processes. Overall, it presents a great deal of detail on the social experiences of different generations in late Soviet and post-Soviet society.

This book argues that the Soviet Union was a highly influential actor in furthering understandings of society-nature interaction on the international stage and played a key role in helping to shape, conceptualize and assess the relationship between humankind and the Earth system. It considers how humankind’s capacity to affect physical and biological systems at a global scale was acknowledged and studied by Soviet scientists, discusses how the interaction between Soviet and Western scientists stimulated the development of new technologies and insights, which simultaneously facilitated a more profound understanding of the Earth’s physical and biological systems, and explores how Soviet scientists drew upon pre-revolutionary intellectual traditions in order to make sense of society-nature interaction and did so in collaboration with a range of international initiatives. Overall, the book provides a deep analysis of how Soviet scientists conceptualized society-nature interaction and influenced the understanding of global physical and biological systems. Furthermore, it is argued that this intellectual legacy remains of importance today with respect to the activities of Russian science and contemporary global environmental challenges.

Gender and Parenting in the Worlds of Alien and Blade Runner is a comparative, gendered analysis study of Ridley Scott’s contributions to the genre of science fiction and horror cinema, showcasing how patriarchal and gendered expectations regarding women, usually associated with the past, still run rampant.