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Informationen zum Autor Cathy A. Frierson Klappentext Cathy A. Frierson is professor of history at the University of New Hampshire. She is the author of Peasant Icons: Representation of Rural People in Late Imperial Russia and Alexander Nikolaevich Engelgardt's Letters from the Country, 1872-1887. Zusammenfassung Destroying almost 3 billion rubles' worth of property in European Russia between 1860 and 1904! accidental and arson fires acted as a brake on Russia's economic development. Using sources ranging from newspaper articles to statistical tables and court records! this work demonstrates the many meanings fire held for peasants and the educated elite. Inhaltsverzeichnis Acknowledgments Introduction PART ONE: FROM BENEVOLENT FORCE TO NATIONAL MISFORTUNE: FIRE'S CONTESTED MEANINGS IN RURAL RUSSIA Fire as Gentle Cookery and Paradise: Peasants as Mistresses and Masters of Fire Fire as Apocalypse or Pathology: Peasants as Victims or Vectors of Fire Fire as Russia's Historical Evil: Peasants Dispossessed by Fire PART TWO: LETTING LOOSE THE RED ROOSTER: ARSON IN RURAL RUSSIA The Fiery Brand, Russian Style: Arson as Protest, Peasants as Incendiaries Arson as Impotent Spite or Potent Practice: Peasants as Vengefull, Covetous, or Wily Actors PART THREE: MOBILIZING TO MAKE RUSSIA MODERN: INSURING, PLANNING, VOLUNTEERING Fire as Insurance Hazard: Peasants as Students of Prudence and Precaution Fire Contained in the Planned Village: Peasants as Residents in a Disciplined Domestic Order Fire as the Internal Enemy: Peasants as Volunteer Firefighters Conclusion: Fire as an Imperial Legacy, Peasants as Partners in Progress Notes References Index
