Wow! eBook
Development of a Russian Legal Consciousness
Author(s): Richard S Wortman (Author)
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press
- Publication Date: 1 Nov. 1976
- Edition: First Edition
- Language: English
- Print length: 358 pages
- ISBN-10: 0226907767
- ISBN-13: 9780226907765
Book Description
Until the nineteenth century, the Russian legal system was subject to an administrative hierarchy headed by the tsar, and the courts were expected to enforce, not interpret the law. Richard S. Wortman here traces the first professional class of legal experts who emerged during the reign of Nicholas I (1826-56). Discussing how new legal institutions fit into the traditional system of tsarist rule, Wortman analyzes how conflict arose from the same intellectual processes that produced legal reform. He ultimately demonstrates how the stage was set for later events, as the autocracy and judiciary pursued contradictory – and mutually destructive – goals.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“A meticulous, well-balanced, and enlightening inquiry on a most important chapter of Russian legal, social, and intellectual history.” – Journal of Modern History”
About the Author
Richard S. Wortman is the James Bryce Professor Emeritus of European Legal History at Columbia University. He is the author of Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy, From Peter the Great to the Abdication of Nicholas II, among numerous other books.
