A magisterial account of criminal law in early modern Russia in a wider European and Eurasian context.

Introduction -- Prelude to revolution -- Rising crime before the October revolution -- Why did the crime rate shoot up? -- Militias rise and fall -- An epidemic

Eighteenth-century Russia -- Nineteenth-century Russia before the emancipation -- From the great reforms to revolution -- The era of Lenin -- The era of Stalin

How a society defines crimes and prosecutes criminals illuminates its cultural values, social norms, and political expectations. In Murder Most Russian, Louise

*A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * One of The East Hampton Star's 10 Best Books of the Year* From the New York Times bestselling author of The Most