On the Periphery of Europe, 1762–1825: The Self-Invention of the Russian Elite. By Andreas Schönle, and Andrei Zorin,. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2018. xi, 242 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $39.00, paper.

On the Periphery of Europe, 1762–1825: The Self-Invention of the Russian Elite. By Andreas Schönle and Andrei Zorin. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2018. xi, 242 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $39.00, paper.

This interesting work uses the history of emotions to provide a new synthesis of the Europeanization of the Russian elite, more specifically the noble estate, from 1762 to 1825. Aiming at the general reader but more likely to reach specialists, it provides a clear narrative of the process of how Russian noblemen (only a few women are discussed) became Europeanized through a process of self-fashioning.

Drawing upon an earlier edited volume and the publications of the two authors, the book is organized as a series of case studies discussing where and how Russian nobles became Europeanized. After a short introduction, with fewer footnotes than useful for specialists, the book then turns to a narrative overview of historical events during this period. It then discusses how Russian nobles were exposed to Europe—through travel, reading, material culture, and sociability. Although these practices did create a Europeanized nobility, they widened the gap between that estate and the rest of the Russian population. Next is an...