Living Water: Vodka and Russian Society on the Eve of Emancipation

by David Christian

This is a study of the social, economic, and political role of vodka in nineteenth-century Russia. Since the "Green Serpent" first appeared in sixteenth-century Muscovy, it has played a vital part in Russian life. Vodka became an essential ingredient in all working class celebrations--personal, religious, and commercial. By the nineteenth century, it was generating one third of government revenue. The individual and governmental dependence on vodka...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198222866
• ISBN13: 9780198222866
• Release Date: October 1990
• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Length: 458 Pages
• Weight: 1.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.5" x 8.5"