John T. Alexander's study dramatically highlights how the Russian people reacted to the Plague, and shows how the tools of modern epidemiology can illuminate the causes of the plague's tragic course through Russia. Bubonic Plauge in Early Modern Russia makes contributions to many aspects of Russian and European history: social, economic, medical, urban, demographic, and meterological. It is particularly enlightening in its discussion of eighteenth-century Russia's emergent medical profession and public health institutions and, overall, should interest scholars in its use of abundant new primary source material from Soviet, German, and British archives.
Author(s): John T. Alexander
Edition: 1
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 408
Contents......Page 8
Preface to Paperback Edition......Page 12
Preface......Page 14
Acknowledgments......Page 18
Note on Dates and Transliteration......Page 20
Introduction: Bubonic Plague, Fleas, and Rats......Page 24
PART ONE: Historical Background, Medical Context, and Urban Setting......Page 32
1. Plague Epidemics and Antiplague Precautions in Russia to 1770......Page 34
2. Medical Professionals and Public Health in Russia to 1770......Page 59
3. Catherine II and Moscow on the Eve of the Plague (1762–70)......Page 84
PART TWO: The Course of the Epidemic......Page 122
4. Origins and Outbreak of the Plague (Spring 1770–Winter 1770/71)......Page 124
5. Official Negligence, Medical Incompetence, or Another False Alarm? (January–May 1771)......Page 148
6. A Pestilential Summer (April–September 1771)......Page 175
7. The Plague Riot (September 1771)......Page 200
8. The Orlov Mission and the Plague Commission (September 1771–January 1772)......Page 225
9. The Plague in the Provinces and the Threat to Petersburg (August 1771–August 1775)......Page 252
PART THREE: The Epidemic's Impact and Consequences......Page 278
10. The Plague's Impact on Moscow......Page 280
11. Medical Reactions and Debates: Plague Tractates from Russia......Page 302
Conclusions and Comparisons......Page 320
Appendix 1. Doctors and Surgeons in Moscow in March 1771......Page 328
Appendix 2. Students at the Moscow Surgical School in 1770–71......Page 330
Abbreviations......Page 332
Notes......Page 334
Selected Bibliography......Page 376
A......Page 396
C......Page 397
E......Page 399
I......Page 400
L......Page 401
M......Page 402
N......Page 403
P......Page 404
R......Page 405
S......Page 406
V......Page 407
Z......Page 408
