Women in Russia, 1700 2000

This 2003 book provides a lively and compelling chronological narrative of women's experiences from the seventeenth century to the present. Adopting the perspective of women of various social strata provides fresh interpretations of Russia's past and important insights into the impact of gender on the ways that Russians defined themselves and others.

Original in its range and analysis, Women in Russia, 1700–2000 filled an enormous gap in the field. When published in 2003, it was the first book to provide a lively and compelling chronological narrative of women's experiences from the seventeenth century to the present. Synthesizing recent scholarship with her own work in primary and archival sources, Barbara Alpern Engel skillfully evokes the voices of individuals to enliven the account. The book captures the diversity of women's lives, detailing how women of various social strata were affected by and shaped historical change. Adopting the perspective of women provides fresh interpretations of Russia's past and important insights into the impact of gender on the ways that Russians defined themselves and others, and imagined political change. Designed for a scholarly as well as undergraduate readership, the book integrates women's experience into broader developments in Russia's social, economic, cultural, and political history.