1:25-3:30P     R     BH011

Above section open to majors only
Above section COAS intensive writing section and requires
registration in COAS W333

Through selected readings in Tolstoy's historical novel, War and
Peace, we examine the dramatic events of the Napoleonic era, when
Russia was led by a charismatic but flawed Tsar, when Russia was
invaded and had to fight for its survival, when a country achieved its
zenith as a European and world power, and boasted a glittering
aristocratic culture, and when Russia began its golden age of poetry
and literature. This was also an era of serfdom, when ninety percent
of the population lived in conditions similar to slavery, but at the
same time enjoyed a standard of living, and perhaps a daily freedom
comparable to that of commoners elsewhere in the western world.
Requirements:  four critical essays, each 5-7 pages in length, written
responses to readings, and midterm or final [to be announced at first
class].

Readings [tentative...this list will most likely be trimmed]

Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace,
Janet Hartley, Alexander I
Peter Kolchin, Unfree Labor
Natasha Durova, A Russian Cavalry Maiden
Priscilla Roosevelt, Life on the Russian Country Estate
Isabel de Madariaga, Catherine the Great