At Home with the Gentry
A Victorian English Lady's Diary of Russian Country Life
Description:... This newly-discovered account of an Englishwoman's stay in the province of Tambov in the early 1850's provides a unique insight into the life of lthe Russian country gentry on the eve of the Crimean War. Far from the world of the Court and high society that is the usual focus of nineteenth-century travel-writing on Russia Miss Lyons (the attribution remains tentative) takes as her subject the daily occupations and concerns of landowners and peasants on the remote steppes. The result is a vivid personal record which is also an illuminating study of provincial life and estate culture. No comparable source provides such a range of factual information in such a direct, unpretentious ans interesting manner. Students of history will discern in this chronicle of ordinary life an understanding of Russian society, of its outward forms and underlying tensions, as acute as any to be found in contemporary discern in this chronicle of ordinary life an understanding of Russian society, of its outward forms and underlying tensions, as acute as any to be found in contemporary accounts of Russia. At the same time, readers of all kinds will respond to the intelligence, humor and warmth which constitute the special charm of these sketches, and to the qualities of mind and character which led their author on her intrepid journey into the very heartland of Russia.
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