Bringing together recent scholarship on Russian peasant women's history from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this book covers such topics as family life in the countryside, woman's work, her sexuality, her marital and family positions, her experience of the Bolshevik Revolution, and her role in collectivization of agriculture from its onset in the Stalin years through the Gorbachev era. Placing the peasant woman within the context of the peasant household and integrating, rather than separating out, the female experience in Russian rural society, these essays contribute to a greater understanding of the development of Russian peasant society as a whole. A pioneering work of social history, this collection is essential for all interested in Russian and women's history.

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Lynne Viola is Professor of History at the University of Toronto. She is the author of The Best Sons of the Fatherland and Peasant Rebels Under Stalin and coeditor of The War against the Peasantry.

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"Contains some fascinating scholarly research on a rarely analyzed subject."--James Newbill, Yakima Valley College

"An excellent collection of essays--a perfect addition to my Women in Russia/USSR course. Farnsworth and Viola deserve thanks for making available such a useful compendium."--Ann Hibner Koblitz, Hartwick College

"Not only a politically correct subject, but genuinely useful...nothing else centers on this enormous subject."--Francis B. Randall, Sarah Lawrence College

"A valuable supplement to the standard Russian history course, Russian Peasant Women provides insight into an often overloaded aspect of Russian history."--James A. Brown, Tougaloo College

"Opens up to students a whole world barely examined in textbooks. Matussian's introductory essay provides a nice overview of the setting. Students should find Farnsworth's essay particularly readable and provocative."-Paul Revetow, Missouri Southern State College

"First-rate! A collection of this type is long overdue. Well-edited and informative. Exactly what is needed for my undergraduate survey."--William B. Husband, Oregon State University

"[A] unique contribution to the study of Russian history as it expands our understanding of the role of gender in the process of historical change,...an essential addition to undergraduate reading lists...Russian Peasant Women will also prove an invaluable source for research students embarking on a study of Russian women, rural society and peasant culture."--Revolutionary Russia

"Excellent organization and expert use of unfamiliar sources."--John Posey, St. Joseph's College

"A handy compilation of articles....Students are always interested in the status of peasant women, and this will make that study much easier."--Nellie Ohr, Vassar College

"[T]he essays are linked to one another by several recurrent themes, which give the book overall cohesion and homogeneity....This collection of essays is very useful...in its reconstruction of the main stages of the long process of change from the abolition of serfdom to Gorbachev's perestroika." --Journal of European Economic History