Murder Most Russian

True Crime and Punishment in Late Imperial Russia

Nonfiction, History, Asian, Russia
Cover of the book Murder Most Russian by Louise McReynolds, Cornell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Louise McReynolds ISBN: 9780801465468
Publisher: Cornell University Press Publication: December 15, 2009
Imprint: Cornell University Press Language: English
Author: Louise McReynolds
ISBN: 9780801465468
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication: December 15, 2009
Imprint: Cornell University Press
Language: English

How a society defines crimes and prosecutes criminals illuminates its cultural values, social norms, and political expectations. In Murder Most Russian, Louise McReynolds draws on a fascinating series of murders and subsequent trials that took place in the wake of the 1864 legal reforms enacted by Tsar Alexander II. For the first time in Russian history, the accused were placed in the hands of juries of common citizens in courtrooms that were open to the press. Drawing on a wide array of sources, McReynolds reconstructs murders that gripped Russian society, from the case of Andrei Gilevich, who advertised for a personal secretary and beheaded the respondent as a way of perpetrating insurance fraud, to the beating death of Marianna Time at the hands of two young aristocrats who hoped to steal her diamond earrings.

As McReynolds shows, newspapers covered such trials extensively, transforming the courtroom into the most public site in Russia for deliberation about legality and justice. To understand the cultural and social consequences of murder in late imperial Russia, she analyzes the discussions that arose among the emergent professional criminologists, defense attorneys, and expert forensic witnesses about what made a defendant’s behavior "criminal." She also deftly connects real criminal trials to the burgeoning literary genre of crime fiction and fruitfully compares the Russian case to examples of crimes both from Western Europe and the United States in this period. Murder Most Russian will appeal not only to readers interested in Russian culture and true crime but also to historians who study criminology, urbanization, the role of the social sciences in forging the modern state, evolving notions of the self and the psyche, the instability of gender norms, and sensationalism in the modern media.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

How a society defines crimes and prosecutes criminals illuminates its cultural values, social norms, and political expectations. In Murder Most Russian, Louise McReynolds draws on a fascinating series of murders and subsequent trials that took place in the wake of the 1864 legal reforms enacted by Tsar Alexander II. For the first time in Russian history, the accused were placed in the hands of juries of common citizens in courtrooms that were open to the press. Drawing on a wide array of sources, McReynolds reconstructs murders that gripped Russian society, from the case of Andrei Gilevich, who advertised for a personal secretary and beheaded the respondent as a way of perpetrating insurance fraud, to the beating death of Marianna Time at the hands of two young aristocrats who hoped to steal her diamond earrings.

As McReynolds shows, newspapers covered such trials extensively, transforming the courtroom into the most public site in Russia for deliberation about legality and justice. To understand the cultural and social consequences of murder in late imperial Russia, she analyzes the discussions that arose among the emergent professional criminologists, defense attorneys, and expert forensic witnesses about what made a defendant’s behavior "criminal." She also deftly connects real criminal trials to the burgeoning literary genre of crime fiction and fruitfully compares the Russian case to examples of crimes both from Western Europe and the United States in this period. Murder Most Russian will appeal not only to readers interested in Russian culture and true crime but also to historians who study criminology, urbanization, the role of the social sciences in forging the modern state, evolving notions of the self and the psyche, the instability of gender norms, and sensationalism in the modern media.

More books from Cornell University Press

Cover of the book The Golden Triangle by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book Constitutional Originalism by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book New York Amish by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book Tainted Souls and Painted Faces by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book Constructive Illusions by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book The National Question in Yugoslavia by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book History Is a Contemporary Literature by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book Urban Flow by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book Over the Horizon by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book Planning for Empire by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book The Petroleum Triangle by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book Soundings in Critical Theory by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book Eisenhower's Sputnik Moment by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book Final Solutions by Louise McReynolds
Cover of the book Phone Clones by Louise McReynolds
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy