Russian Shorts is a series of thought-provoking books published in a slim, beautifully designed format. The Shorts books provide concise examinations of key concepts, personalities, and moments in Russian historical and cultural studies, encompassing its vast diversity from the origins of the Kievan state to Putin's Russia. Each book is written in a nontechnical manner, covers a side of Russian history and culture that has not been well-understood, and is meant to stimulate debate. All books are peer-reviewed and meet the highest standards of scholarship. Series Editors: Eugene M. Avrutin, Professor of Modern European Jewish History and Tobor Family Scholar in the Program of Jewish Culture and Society, University of Illinois, USA Stephen M. Norris, Walter E. Havighurst Professor of Russian History and Director of the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, Miami University (OH), USA Editorial Board: Edyta Bojanowska, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Yale University, USA Ekaterina Boltunova, Associate Professor of History, Higher School of Economics, Russia Eliot Borenstein, Professor of Russian and Slavic, New York University, USA Melissa Caldwell, Professor of Anthropology, University of California Santa Cruz, USA Choi Chatterjee, Professor of History, California State University, Los Angeles, USA Robert Crews, Professor of History, Stanford University, USA Dan Healey, Professor of Modern Russian History, University of Oxford, UK Polly Jones, Associate Professor of Russian, University of Oxford, UK Paul R.

Josephson, Professor of History, Colby College, USA Marlene Laruelle, Research Professor of International Affairs, George Washington University, USA Marina Mogilner, Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA Willard Sunderland, Henry R. Winkler Professor of Modern History, University of Cincinnati, USA.