First Published in 2004. Modernizing Muscovy is a comprehensive account of seventeenth-century

Russian history. It rejects the traditional interpretation of this era as the twilight

of the Russian Middle Ages. By revealing important instances of dynamic

change in the late Muscovite state, economy, and society, the book demonstrates

the crucial importance of pre-Petrine reform in Russia’s transition to one of the

great powers of the world. The book’s broad scope makes it a veritable

encyclopaedia of late Muscovite history. It both synthesizes previous scholarship

and breaks new ground in many important areas.