Book Review: The Modernization of Russia

Abstract

Simon Dixon's treatment of The Modernisation of Russia 1676-1825 is careful not to sacrifice precision in striving for comprehensiveness. Nor does it simply seek to apply any rigidly conceived theoretical matrix to Russia in the period in question. On the contrary, Dixon emphasizes that "modernization theory is useful only if we reject its more restrictive implications" (112). In keeping with the broad aims of the series in which it appears, his book uses modernization theory as a "comparative analytic framework" for viewing Russian development in a European context.