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Unfree Labor
American Slavery and Russian Serfdom
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Peter Kolchin
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
1990
About this book
The American enslavement of blacks and the Russian subjection of serfs flourished in different ways and varying degrees until legally abolished in the mid-19th century. Kolchin compares and contrasts the two systems over time, highlighting their basic similarities while identifying key differences discernible only in comparative perspective.
Reviews
Comparative history is a tricky business and Unfree Labor succeeds where many previous ventures into this genre have failed.
-- Richard S. Dunn Times Literary Supplement
-- Richard S. Dunn Times Literary Supplement
A learned and sophisticated book in the tradition of high scholarship, as well as a book written to be read and enjoyed. Those who share a taste for comparative history will be taken with the author’s spirit of play, his readiness to ask ‘what if,’ and his zest for experiment and discovery.
-- C. Vann Woodward New York Review of Books
-- C. Vann Woodward New York Review of Books
In its balance of interpretation, clarity of exposition, and depth and breadth of research, the book is exceptional. Moreover, it is a model of comparative analysis, displaying, as too few such studies have ever done, the complexities and the value of historical comparison.
-- Carl N. Degler Journal of Social History
-- Carl N. Degler Journal of Social History
Students of servile labor systems, slave and serf, and of American and Russian history, have needed, and have known they needed, a book like this for a long time… This is indeed a splendid and indispensable book… Required reading for American historians.
-- Eugene D. Genovese Journal of Economic History
-- Eugene D. Genovese Journal of Economic History
Kolchin’s book is a work of staggering erudition as regards the literature and sources concerning both Russian serfdom and American slavery. His comparative study offers significant insight into both systems of bondage. There is nothing remotely comparable in the literature in Russian or English, and Kolchin’s writing is always lucid.
-- Daniel Field, Russian Research Center, Harvard University
-- Daniel Field, Russian Research Center, Harvard University
Kolchin’s stupendous research effort and sensitive reading of the evidence have resulted in an original, perceptive, and significant book. Admirably proving the enormous value of comparative study, Kolchin’s analysis provides fresh insights into the nature of unfree labor in general and slavery and serfdom in particular. And despite its sophistication and its length, the book is a good read; it is clear, cogent, and free of academic jargon. This is a splendid study.
-- Harold D. Woodman, Purdue University
-- Harold D. Woodman, Purdue University
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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MAPS
viii -
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TABLES
viii -
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Preface
ix -
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FREQUENTLY USED RUSSIAN TERMS
xvi -
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Introduction: The Origin and Consolidation of Unfree Labor
1 - PART I. The Masters and Their Bondsmen
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1. Labor Management
49 -
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2. Planters, Pomeshchiki, and Paternalism
103 -
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3. Ideals and Ideology
157 - PART II. The Bondsmen and Their Masters
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4. Community and Culture
195 -
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5. Patterns of Resistance
241 -
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6. Protest, Unity, and Disunity
302 -
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Epilogue: The Crisis of Unfree Labor
359 -
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Bibliographical Note
377 -
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Notes
385 -
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Index
505
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
July 1, 2009
eBook ISBN:
9780674039711
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
534
eBook ISBN:
9780674039711
Audience(s) for this book
Professional and scholarly;
