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Living Water
David Christian
其他書名
Vodka and Russian Society on the Eve of Emancipation
出版Clarendon Press, 1990
主題History / Russia / GeneralHistory / Social HistorySocial Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social
ISBN01982228669780198222866
URLhttp://books.google.com.hk/books?id=KOezAAAAIAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
註釋This book is a study of the social, economic, and political role of vodka in 19th-century Russia. Since the 'Green Serpent' first appeared in 16th-century Muscovy, it has played a vital part in Russian life. Vodka became an essential part of Russian working-class celebrations, whether personal, religious, or commercial. Trade in vodka redistributed wealth upwards through Russian society over several centuries. Indeed, Russia's status as a great power was underpinned by it: by the 19th century, it generated one-third of government revenue -- enough to cover most of the costs of the vast army. The dependence on vodka of both people and state endured into the Gorbachev era. However, despite vodka's key role in Russian history, and the complex network of corruption associated with it, the subject has been ignored by most historians until now. This study concentrates on an important transitional era in the history of vodka: the early 19th century. During this period, vodka taxes played the role that salt taxes had played in the ancien régime in France. The abolition of the tax farm in 1863 should be seen as one of the most important of the 'Great Reforms' of the 1860s, an era which, in many ways, parallels the glasnost of the 1980s.