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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in Fin-De-Siecle Russia
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in Fin-De-Siecle Russia Hardback - 1992

by Laura Engelstein

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Reader reviews for The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in Fin-De-Siecle Russia

From the publisher

The revolution of 1905 challenged not only the social and political structures of imperial Russia but the sexual order as well. Throughout the decade that followed-in the salons of the artistic and intellectual avant-garde, on the pages of popular romances, in the staid assemblies of physicians, psychiatrists, and legal men--the talk everywhere was of sex. This eagerly awaited book, echoing the title of a pre-World War I bestseller, The Keys to Happiness, marks the first serious attempt to understand the intense public interest in sexuality as a vital dimension of late tsarist political culture. Drawing on a strong foundation of historical sources--from medical treatises and legal codes to anti-Semitic pamphlets, commercial fiction, newspaper advertisements, and serious literature--Laura Engelstein shows how Western ideas and attitudes toward sex and gender were transformed in the Russian context as imported views on prostitution, venereal disease, homosexuality, masturbation, abortion, and other themes took on distinctively Russian hues. Engelstein divides her study into two parts, the first focusing on the period from the Great Reforms to 1905 and on the two professional disciplines most central to the shaping of a modern sexual discourse in Russia: law and medicine. The second part describes the complicated sexual preoccupations that accompanied the mobilization leading up to 1905, the revolution itself, and the aftermath of continued social agitation and intensified intellectual doubt. In chapters of astonishing richness, the author follows the sexual theme through the twists of professional and civic debate and in the surprising links between high and low culture up to the eve of the First World War. Throughout, Engelstein uses her findings to rethink the conventional wisdom about the political and cultural history of modern Russia. She maps out new approaches to the history of sexuality, and shows, brilliantly, how the study of attitudes toward sex and gender can help us to grasp the most fundamental political issues in any society.

Details

  • Title The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in Fin-De-Siecle Russia
  • Author Laura Engelstein
  • Binding Hardback
  • Pages 480
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London
  • Publication date 1992-12-03
  • Features Maps
  • ISBN 9780801426643 / 0801426642
  • Weight 2.01 lbs (0.91 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.21 x 6.14 x 1.19 in (23.39 x 15.60 x 3.02 cm)
  • Age range 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Russian
  • Category History - General History
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 92-52751
  • Dewey Decimal Code 306.709

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Citations

  • Library Journal, 11/01/1992, Page 0

About the author

Laura Engelstein is Henry S. McNeil Professor of History at Yale University. She is author of Castration and the Heavenly Kingdom: A Russian Folktale and coeditor, with Stephanie Sandler, of Self and Story in Russian History, both from Cornell.

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THE KEYS TO HAPPINESS: SEX AND THE SEARCH FOR MODERNITY IN FIN-DE-SIECLE  RUSSIA
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THE KEYS TO HAPPINESS: SEX AND THE SEARCH FOR MODERNITY IN FIN-DE-SIECLE RUSSIA

by Engelstein, Laura

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Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. VG+. 1992. Hardcover. Hardback in Very Good+ condition with Very Good+ dust jacket.. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 461 pages. Previous owners impression on title page. . * Quick Shipping * All Books Mailed in Boxes * Free Tracking Provided * .
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin-de-Siecle Russia
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin-de-Siecle Russia

by Engelstein, Laura

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Cornell University Press, 1992. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. Clean unopened copy, looking nearly new in crisp bright jacket. Name of former owner on inner endpage. Jacket with a few thin creases to rear side. Benefits the Friends of the Albany, Ca Library.
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin-de-Siecle Russia
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin-de-Siecle Russia

by Engelstein, Laura

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Cornell University Press, 1992-12-03. First Edition. hardcover. Used: Good. 6.12x1.44x9.25. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin-de-Siecle Russia
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin-de-Siecle Russia

by Engelstein, Laura

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hardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin-de-Siecle Russia
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin-de-Siecle Russia

by Engelstein, Laura

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Cornell University Press, 1992-12-03. First Edition. hardcover. New. 6.12x1.44x9.25. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin-de-Siecle Russia
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin-de-Siecle Russia

by Engelstein, Laura

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780801426643 / 0801426642
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Cornell University Press, 1992-12-03. Hardcover. New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!
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The Keys to Happiness – Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin–de–Siecle Russia
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The Keys to Happiness – Sex and the Search for Modernity in fin–de–Siecle Russia

by Laura Engelstein

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780801426643 / 0801426642
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Cornell Univ Pr, 1992. Hardcover. New. 461 pages. 9.75x6.25x1.25 inches.
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The Keys to Happiness: Sex and the Search for Modernity in...

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