Empire of Vice. Harlots, Prostitutes and Kept Women in Tsarist Russia
14.99 €
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Empire of Vice. Harlots, Prostitutes and Kept Women in Tsarist Russia
14.99 €
In her new book, writer and blogger Nika Marsh (author of the bestsellers "Princess for Sale", "Strong Bonds", "House Inside Out" and "Cruel Marriage") boldly introduces the reader to the "glitz and poverty" of brothels of the 19th-20th centuries, where luxury coexisted with despair, and serious crimes were hidden behind external decency.
You will learn how women of this profession lived: "blank" singles and officially registered "yellow tickets", their tenacious "moms", "nannies", "generals' wives", as well as "actresses", dancers and singers, who were automatically equated by contemporaries with kept women, how prostitution was connected with the criminal world and how the state in different eras tried to fight this phenomenon or at least take it under control.
How did the camp follower Marta Skavronskaya become the Empress of All Russia? What was the age limit for brothel owners under Nicholas I? How did the "undercover dens" work and what was the fate of Teresa Grunwald, whom the critic Nikolai Dobrolyubov bailed out of a brothel?
With amazing sensitivity and insight, Nika Marsh creates a detailed picture of the typical life of prostitutes in Tsarist Russia, masterfully weaving related topics into a complex study: adultery and the attitude towards it in Rus', daughter-in-law, landowners' harems, the criminal history of the empire and many others. The book's heroes are representatives of various social strata: from the famous "Valdai girls" to the famous ballerina Avdotya Istomina, about whom Pushkin wrote with delight, from marginalized people to grand dukes. This book is a lively and insightful portrait of a society where vice has become a business and love a commodity.
You will learn how women of this profession lived: "blank" singles and officially registered "yellow tickets", their tenacious "moms", "nannies", "generals' wives", as well as "actresses", dancers and singers, who were automatically equated by contemporaries with kept women, how prostitution was connected with the criminal world and how the state in different eras tried to fight this phenomenon or at least take it under control.
How did the camp follower Marta Skavronskaya become the Empress of All Russia? What was the age limit for brothel owners under Nicholas I? How did the "undercover dens" work and what was the fate of Teresa Grunwald, whom the critic Nikolai Dobrolyubov bailed out of a brothel?
With amazing sensitivity and insight, Nika Marsh creates a detailed picture of the typical life of prostitutes in Tsarist Russia, masterfully weaving related topics into a complex study: adultery and the attitude towards it in Rus', daughter-in-law, landowners' harems, the criminal history of the empire and many others. The book's heroes are representatives of various social strata: from the famous "Valdai girls" to the famous ballerina Avdotya Istomina, about whom Pushkin wrote with delight, from marginalized people to grand dukes. This book is a lively and insightful portrait of a society where vice has become a business and love a commodity.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series Nika Marsh. History is interesting