A History of Women in Russia From Earliest Times to the Present [Paperback]

Synthesizing several decades of scholarship by historians East and West, Barbara Evans Clements traces the major developments in the history of women in Russia and their impact on the history of the nation. Sketching lived experiences across the centuries, she demonstrates the key roles that women played in shaping Russia's political, economic, social, and cultural development for over a millennium. The story Clements tells is one of hardship and endurance, but also one of achievement by women who, for example, promoted the conversion to Christianity, governed estates, created great art, rebelled against the government, established charities, built the tanks that rolled into Berlin in 1945, and flew the planes that strafed the retreating Wehrmacht. This daunting and complex history is presented in an engaging survey that integrates this scholarship into the field of Russian and post-Soviet history.

Introduction
Glossary
A Sketch of the Historiography
1 The Women of the Rus, 900-1460
2 The Age of The Domostroi, 1462-1695
3 Empresses and Serfs, 1695-1855
4 Industrialization and Urbanization, 1855-1914
5 Activist Women and Revolutionary Change, 1890-1930
6 Toil, Terror, and Triumphs, 1930-53
7 Making Better Lives, 1953-1991
8 Gains and Losses, 1991-2010
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Without minimizing the difficulties women have faced, this book is an antidote to the often condescending, as well as negative, histories of the position of women in Russia. Above all, it allows the reader to hear what a rich variety of these women have to say about themselves, rather than simply speaking for them.[P]rovides a wealth of information . . . .Dec. 2013This work represents the culmination of [Clements's] impressive academic career, showcasing as it does her deep and wide-ranging knowledge of the history of women in Russia as well as her own interpretation of the meaning and significance of that narrative. Clementss stlÃ/