For the Common Good and Their Own Well-Being

Steven L. Hoch, Canadian-American Slavic Studies Smith clearly demonstrates that the soslovie system remained at once both vital and obsolete.

Valerie A. Kivelson, Slavic Review The resulting work does not so much recast our understanding of imperial Russia as greatly enrich and deepen it....[E]xpansive treatment

Simon Dixon, Slavonic & East European Review Bristling with all manner of fascinating detail, For the Common Good and Their Own Well-Being is the most original and significant study of the soslovie system for a generation .[T]his will surely stand as a landmark in the field, just as it will spur others on to further exploration of the meanings of Russian social boundaries.

Steven L. Hoch, Canadian-American Slavic Studies Smith clearly demonstrates that the soslovie system remained at once both vital and obsolete.

Journal of Modern History Alison Smith's book can provide a good entry point for historians in other fields to get a hands-on feel for Russian society and its fluidity and successfully controverts tired stereotypes of absolutism, social rigidity, and backwardness. It is a serious, archivally driven investigation of hundreds of specific cases of individuals changing soslovie

CHOICE [W]ell-written...[Smith] uses successive legal structures, judicial decisions, and bureaucratic analyses and rulings to examine both the legal structures and, on a more anecdotal level, the reality for those Russians who sought to change their place of residence or occupational level. Researchers and advanced students of Russian history will undoubtedly find this a useful study...

The Russian Review Smith's book is an original, thought-provoking, multifaceted exploration of the estate system, and as such it has much to offer any reader interested in imperial Russia.

Slavic Review In order to understand the impact of soslovie in people's lives, Smith strategically focuses on those who moved across estate lines, an approach that allows her to examine the legal, administrative, financial, and, remarkably, emotional ramifications of soslovie and soslovie-crossing for all parties concerned.

Alison K. Smith is Professor of History, University of Toronto.

Contents Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: The Meaning of Soslovie Chapter 2: Legal Standards and Administrative Reality: Local Interests and Central Ideals in the 18th Century Chapter 3:The Freedom to Choose and the Right to Refuse Chapter 4: Communities and Individuals: Soslovie Societies and their Members Chapter 5: The Death and Life of Sosloviia in the Post-Reform Empire Chapter 6:The Evolution of Collective Responsibility Chapter 7: Soslovie in Context: Life Stories Conclusion Appendix: Archival Sources Selected Bibliography Notes Index