Russia's Age of Serfdom 1649-1861 offers a broad interpretive history of the Russian Empire from the time of serfdom's codification until its abolition following the Crimean War.

• Considers the institution of serfdom, official social categories, and Russia's development as a country of peasants ruled by nobles, military commanders, and civil servants
• Illuminates the reality of absolute monarchy in Russia, with special emphasis on the mobilization of human and material resources, the search for regular government, and the persistence of personal-moral forms of authority
• Traces the emergence of modern Russian culture out of and alongside Orthodox religious culture