Ministry of Darkness
How Sergei Uvarov Created Conservative Modern Russia
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:31st Oct '19
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
An intimate study of the impact of Count Sergei Uvarov on the political landscape of 19th-century Russia and the founding of Russian conservatism.
There is nothing new about the Russian conservatism Putin stands for, acclaimed writer Lesley Chamberlain argues. Rather, as Ministry of Darkness reveals, the roots of Russian conservatism can be traced back to the 19th century when Count Uvarov's notorious cry of 'Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality!' rang through the streets of Russia.
Sergei Uvarov was no straightforward conservative; indeed, this man was at once both the pioneering educational reformer who founded the Arzamas Writers’ Club to which Pushkin belonged, and the Minister who tyrannised and censored Russia’s literary scene. How, then, do we reconcile such extreme contradictions in one person? Through Chamberlain’s intimate examination of Uvarov’s life and skilled analysis of Russian conservatism, readers learn how the many paradoxes that dominated Uvarov’s personal and political life are those which, writ large, have forged the identity of conservative modern Russia and its relationship with the West.
This fascinating book sheds new light on an often overlooked historical actor and offers a timely assessment of the 19th-century ‘Russian predicament’. In doing so, Chamberlain teases out the reasons why the country continues to baffle Western observers and policymakers, making this essential reading both students of Russian history and those who want to further understand Russia as it is today.
In her splendid book “Ministry of Darkness,” Lesley Chamberlain instead trains her attention on Sergei Uvarov (1786-1855), a paradoxical figure so original as to transcend all familiar categories. Ms. Chamberlain, an independent historian and novelist, persuasively shows how he nevertheless exercised a profound influence on Russian education and thought. * The Wall Street Journal *
Chamberlain’s intellectual biography teases out Uvarov’s influences with great erudition and peeks into his rather surprising personal life. * Times Literary Supplement *
Erudite and, unlike many books of its kind, published as an affordable paperback, Ministry of Darkness is a good account of Uvarov’s life. * Canadian Slavonic Papers *
Too long dismissed as a cartoon reactionary villain, Sergei Uvarov emerges in the pages of Chamberlain’s fascinating biography as a contradictory figure who, in the shadows cast by Europe’s revolutionary upheavals, grappled with the apparently incompatible demands of internal stability and cultural progress. Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of Russia’s tortured relationship with the West. * Dr Daniel Beer, Royal Holloway University, University of London, UK *
A wise, nuanced, and admirably readable work of intellectual history, this book is indispensable for anyone wishing to understand the complexities and contradictions of Russian conservatism. * Dr Rachel Polonsky, University of Cambridge, UK *
Lesley Chamberlain’s portrait of Sergei Uvarov is a marvel of erudition and elegance. Her study of the 19th-century Tsarist minister of education reveals a complex and compelling figure whose life, which combined great power and even greater impotence, anticipates the tragic predicament of contemporary Russia and those who seek to reform it. * Prof Robert Zaretsky, University of Houston, USA *
ISBN: 9781350116689
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 506g
328 pages