All Russia is burning! : a cultural history of fire and arson in late Imperial Russia / Cathy A. Frierson.

"A Samuel and Althea Stroum book."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

From Benevolent Force to National Misfortune: Fire's Contested Meanings in Rural Russia -- Fire as Gentle Cookery and Paradise: Peasants as Mistresses and Masters of Fire -- Fire as Apocalypse or Pathology: Peasants as Victims or Vectors of Fire -- Fire as Russia's Historical Evil: Peasants Dispossessed by Fire -- Letting Loose the Red Rooster: Arson in Rural Russia -- The Fiery Brand, Russian Style: Arson as Protest, Peasants as Incendiaries -- Arson as Impotent Spite or Potent Practice: Peasants as Vengeful, Covetous, or Wily Actors -- Mobilizing to Make Russia Modern: Insuring, Planning, Volunteering -- Fire as Insurance Hazard: Peasants as Students of Prudence and Precaution -- Fire Contained in the Planned Village: Peasants as Residents in a Disciplined Domestic Order -- Fire as the Internal Enemy: Peasants as Volunteer Firefighters -- Conclusion: Fire as an Imperial Legacy, Peasants as Partners in Progress -- Total reported fires by province, 1863 -- Total reported fires by province, 1873 -- Total reported fires by province, 1883 -- Total reported fires by province, 1893 -- Population density in 1897 -- Fires per population in 1897 -- Percentage of reported fires attributed to arson, 1860s -- Percentage of reported fires attributed to arson, 1870s -- Percentage of reported fires attributed to arson, 1880s -- Percentage of reported fires attributed to arson, 1890s -- Percentage of reported fires attributed to arson, 1900-1904 -- Provinces where percentage of fires attributed to arson increased, 1888-1904.

"Rural fires were an even more persistent scourge than famine in late imperial Russia, as Cathy Frierson shows in this first comprehensive study. Destroying almost 3 billion rubles' worth of property in European Russia between 1860 and 1904, accidental and arson fires acted as a brake on Russia's economic development while subjecting peasants to perennial shocks to their physical and emotional condition. The fire question especially captured the attention of educated, progressive Russians, who perceived it as a key obstacle to Russia's becoming a modern society on the European model."

"More than anything else, this history of fire and arson in rural European Russia is a history of their cultural meanings in the late imperial campaign for modernity. Frierson shows the special associations of women with fire in rural life and in elite understanding of fire in the Russian countryside. Her study of the fire question demonstrates both peasant agency in fighting fire and educated Russians' hardening conviction that peasants stood in the way of Russia's advent into the company of prosperous, rational, civilized nations."--Jacket.