During the fin-de-siècle and early revolutionary eras, picture postcards were an important medium of communication for Russians of all backgrounds. In Open Letters, the most comprehensive study of Russian picture postcards to date, Alison Rowley uses this medium to explore a variety of aspects of Russian popular culture. The book is lavishly illustrated with more than 130 images, most of which have never been published before.

Through her examinations of postcards, Rowley addresses a diverse range of topics: how landscape postcards conveyed notions of imperialism; the role of postcards in the rise of celebrity culture; depictions of the body on erotic and pornographic postcards; how postcards were employed to promote differing interpretations of the First World War; and the use of postcards by revolutionary groups seeking to overthrow the Tsarist government. Rowley determines the extent to which Russia was embedded in Europe-wide cultural trends by situating the Russian case within a larger European context.

Alison Rowley is an associate professor in the Department of History at Concordia University.

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"This is an important and fascinating glimpse into the complementary construction of private lives and public assumption in late imperial Russia."

<em>Revolutionary Russia </em>

"What Alison Rowley in Open Letters does well is provide a welcome overview of the postcard industry and introduce a new visual source to Russian scholars as well as ways to interpret these images. For that we are all in her debt."

<em>The Russian Review </em>

"Intriguing and beautifully produced."

<em>Slavic Review </em>

"Entering the world of Russian postcards allows one to savor something of the times in which they circulated and to sample an occasional message from one person to another… This book will be warmly welcomed by historians and students interested in Russia."

<em>The Journal of Modern History</em>

"Open Letters is undoubtedly a valuable addition to the historiography of Russian popular culture of early twentieth century, which goes some way towards confirming the postcard as a significant cultural artifact both with and of history."

<em>Slavonic & East European Review </em>