Liberals under Autocracy: Modernization and Civil Society in Russia, 1866–1904

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my dissertation committee members—my advisor Catherine Evtuhov, the late Richard Stites, and Harley Balzer—who made possible the metamorphosis of a graduate project into a book. James Shedel’s class on Central European politics subconsciously triggered this project. My parents, Irina and Andrei, were at the source of it all as they retracted the Iron Curtain and allowed me to grow intellectually by exposing me to the best of what both sides of the Cold War world had to offer. To my mother, Irina, I owe my love of knowledge and passion for inquiry. From my father, I inherited the joie de vivre that is the fuel of intellectual persistence. My grandparents on both sides of the family created a warm and joyous childhood such as those I have read descriptions of in the best Russian novels. This book would never have seen the light of day had it not been for my wife Anita who inspired, cajoled, and forced the speedy and successful completion of this project. By creating every imaginable material and intellectual condition for my work, she bore the greatest responsibility for its completion. In the process, she has become an intellectual companion and a co-traveler for life. I could not have been luckier. I owe the greatest debt to Ray and Christina Hanna for creating a home in Washington and the Shenandoah Valley. Evan Jenkins unfortunately did not live to see the completion of this project, which he would have welcomed joyously. A dear friend, he greatly extended my intellectual horizons, musical tastes, and sommelier experience. I am in debt to Alexander Martin, Randall Poole, Alfred J. Rieber, and David McDonald for their priceless advice on the manuscript. Gwen Walker of the University of Wisconsin Press has been the best guide for a first book Acknowledgments ix project that I could ever have imagined. The History Department at American University, where I completed the book while teaching, became an academic family that stimulated and encouraged me. I am especially grateful to Eric Lohr, Pamela Nadell, Peter Kuznick, Richard Breitman, Allan Lichtman, Alan Kraut, Max Friedman, Katharina Vester, and the late Bob Griffith for their support and advice. I have also received crucial intellectual sustenance from the Washington, DC, Russian History Seminar. The project of writing a dissertation and then turning it into a book would have been more tedious were it not for the delightful combination of intellect and good spirits at Martin’s Tavern in Georgetown, including Peter Dunkley, Claus Westmeier, Amy Leonard, Howard Spendelow, and the lynchpin of it all—the late Richard Stites. I would also like to thank the staffs of the European Reading Room at the Library of Congress, the Pushkin House Archive in Saint Petersburg, and the Russian State Library in my native and beloved city of Moscow. The launch of the Initiative for Russian Culture at American University in September  made me realize even further the value of this project. I am profoundly grateful to the three people whose vision inspired the Initiative: Susan Lehrman, Peter Starr, and His Excellency Sergey I. Kislyak, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States. As each intellectual product is the result of a person’s entire mental experience , the friends who have intellectually accompanied me have become companions for life: William Aaron, Andrea Despot, James Keidel, Damon Kovelsky, Kirill Orekhov, and Brandon “Carlos” Schneider. Having written about a journal as an institution, perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned is that no scholar stands alone. x Acknowledgments Liberals under Autocracy ...