Background : part one
Analysis : part two
Serfdom in the Russian empire
A crisis of serfdom?
Further causes of reform and abolition
Rural reforms, 1762 - 1855
Military reform and the Crimean war
Preparing to abolish serfdom, 1856 -1861
The terms of the abolition of serfdom
Responses and implementation, 1861 - 1863
The reform process, 1863 - 1907
The impact of the abolition of serfdom
Conclusions and assessment : part three
Abolition and aftermath
Documents : part four

It was in February 1861 that Tsar Alexander II issued the statutes abolishing the institution of serfdom in Russia. The procedures set in motion by Alexander II in time undid the ties that bound 22 million serfs and 100,000 noble estate owners. Rather than presenting abolition as an "event" that happened in February 1861, "The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia" presents the reform as a process. It traces the origins of the abolition of serfdom back to reforms in related areas in 1762 and forward to the culmination of the process in 1907. Written in an engaging and accessible manner, the book provides: an up-to-date interpretation of this important development in Russian history, drawing on recent research by Russian and Western historians; a document section containing selections from sources previously unavailable in English translation; a glossary of specialist terms, a chronology of the main events, a who’s who identifying the main people and a guide to further reading. "The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia, 1762 - 1907" shows how the reform process linked the old social, economic and political order of eighteenth-century Russia with the radical transformations of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that culminated in revolution in 1917. It will be invaluable for students and teachers of courses on the history of Russia, Europe and rural societies. David Moon is Reader in Modern History at the University of Strathclyde