{"product_id":"smoking-under-the-tsars-9781501722059","title":"Smoking under the Tsars","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eApproaching tobacco from the perspective of users, producers, and objectors, \u003ci\u003eSmoking under the Tsars\u003c\/i\u003e provides an unparalleled view of Russia's early adoption of smoking. Tricia Starks introduces us to the addictive, nicotine-soaked Russian version of the cigarettethe\u003ci\u003e papirosa\u003c\/i\u003eand the sensory, medical, social, cultural, and gendered consequences of this unique style of tobacco use.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStarting with the \u003ci\u003epapirosa\u003c\/i\u003e's introduction in the nineteenth century and its foundation as a cultural and imperial construct, Starks situates the cigarette's emergence as a mass-use product of revolutionary potential. She discusses the \u003ci\u003epapirosa\u003c\/i\u003e as a moral and medical problem, tracks the ways in which it was marketed as a liberating object, and concludes that it has become a point of increasing conflict for users, reformers, and purveyors.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe heavily illustrated \u003ci\u003eSmoking under the Tsars\u003c\/i\u003e taps into bountiful material in newspapers, industry publications, etiquette \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat a curious, ambitious book! When I think of titles that will get readers hooked on Russia, this is what I envision.\u003ci\u003e Smoking Under the Tsars\u003c\/i\u003e is sprawling, drawing cultural anthropology, history, pubpol, and medicine (plus a little journalism) under the wing of RAS.\u003c\/p\u003e * Russia Reviewed *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eTricia Starks' book is well-written and lavishly illustrated and is an important contribution to the understanding of the manufacture, production, and role that tobacco had in late imperial and in the Revolutionary Russia. Particularly noteworthy is the level of detail that the author has provided on all these topics. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in any aspect of smoking or the tobacco industry in Russia during the periods discussed.\u003c\/p\u003e * International Journal of Russian Studies *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe history of tobacco smoking and addiction described in Tricia Starks's lively new book \u003ci\u003eSmoking Under the Tsars\u003c\/i\u003e underscores how deeply ingrained the habit is in Russian history and culture and the difficulty the contemporary Russian state faces in trying to persuade more people to quit.... Fascinating.\u003c\/p\u003e * American Journal of Public Health *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eStarks succeeds in cohesively examining an unconventional topic that will interest a wide audience interested in histories of consumer culture, the senses, women, medicine, and the public sphere before 1917.\u003c\/p\u003e * Choice *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e[\u003ci\u003eSmoking under the Tsars\u003c\/i\u003e] offers readers a thick anthropological account of complex socialities created and maintained with a cigarette puff.\u003c\/p\u003e * Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eShould be on all graduate students' reading lists and, given their accessible and jargon-free writing styles, could easily be integrated in the undergraduate curriculum.\u003c\/p\u003e * Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eStarks is successful in inviting the reader to reconsider tobacco consumption as a form of national project during the late imperial period. Of interest to scholars of public health, gender, and marketing as well as historians, it is well worthy of a wide readership and an important addition to our understanding of the late imperial period.\u003c\/p\u003e * The Russian Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eStarks carefully reviews advertisements, archival documents, maps, and individual narratives to generate an elegant and thorough account of the social life of smoking in prerevolutionary Russia.\u003c\/p\u003e * Journal of the History of Medicine *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eStarks has put together a masterful monograph that weaves together the political, economic, social, and cultural history of smoking in Russia—no small feat. The prose is as vivid and engaging as the stunning, full-color, tsarist-era artwork.\u003c\/p\u003e * MUSE *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eNicely organized and beautifully illustrated with color reproductions of tobacco and cigarette ads,\u003ci\u003e Smoking \u003c\/i\u003ecovers tobacco use in Russia before 1917 through cultivation of the plant, preparation and use of cigarettes, advertising and consumption, and early arguments pro and con lighting up.\u003c\/p\u003e * Journal of Modern History *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSmoking under the Tsars\u003c\/i\u003e is an impressive, multifaceted study of one of the most ubiquitous and controversial commodities in history, the cigarette, in a society famous for heavy smoking. Drawing on medical tracts, Russian literature, economic records, advertising posters and a host of other sources, this richly illustrated volume has something for everyone and connects to a remarkable range of topics through one of the most disposable commodities imaginable. Starks does a fantastic job of balancing the culturally constructed meaning of her subject with its concrete physical realities.\u003c\/p\u003e * Canadian-American Slavic Studies *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eCigarettes and Soviets makes important contributions to recent work on the global history of tobacco use, along with adding to our understanding of socialist consumption and everyday life. Most delightfully, Starks's book demonstrates a keen understanding of Soviet visual culture in all its unex- pected and paradoxical dimensions, and her beautiful prose evokes the sights and smells of ordinary places in the USSR.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e,,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eList of Tables and Maps\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Introduction: Papirosy and Dependence\u003cbr\u003e 1. Cultivated: Exotic Blends and Imperial Designs\u003cbr\u003e 2. Produced: Tobacco Queens and Working Girls\u003cbr\u003e 3. Tasted: Distinctive Smoking and Social Inclusion\u003cbr\u003e 4. Condemned: Social Danger and Neurasthenic Decline\u003cbr\u003e 5. Contested: Medical Dispute and Public Disbelief\u003cbr\u003e Epilogue: Revolution and Cessation\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409330118999,"sku":"9781501722059","price":37.05,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781501722059.jpg?v=1730506444","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/smoking-under-the-tsars-9781501722059","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}