Europe and the Making of Modernity, 1815-1914 is a clear and engaging chronicle of the political, economic, social, and cultural changes that transformed Europe during the nineteenth century. An introduction neatly summarizes the major issues and events of the French Revolution, while a sweeping narrative takes readers from the Congress of Vienna to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo. Employing the latest research, the book incorporates discussions of gender, nationalism, imperialism, the rise of the new working and middle classes, and the ways in which artists...

In this pioneering analysis of diffuse underclass anger that simmers in many societies, Joan Neuberger takes us to the streets of St. Petersburg in 1900-1914 to show us how the phenomenon labeled hooliganism came to symbolize all that was wrong with the modern city: increasing hostility between classes, society's failure to "civilize" the poor, the desperation of the destitute, and the proliferation of violence in public spaces.

Uses the under-studied genre of melodrama as a critical prism for understanding Russian/Soviet history, politics and culture--in particular, the uses to which popular culture was put in the Soviet period.

"Imitations of Life" views Russian melodrama from the eighteenth century to today as an unexpectedly hospitable forum for considering social issues. The contributors follow the evolution of the genre through a variety of cultural practices and changing political scenarios. They argue that Russian audiences have found a particular type of comfort in this mode of entertainment that invites them to respond emotionally rather than politically to social turmoil.
Drawing on a wide variety of sources, including plays, lachrymose novels, popular movies, and even highly publicized funerals and...