HSE Publishing House

This book describes the multifaceted evolution of basic ideas concerning Russia and Europe’s past that were held by citizens of the Russian Empire from the second half of the 18th century to the early 20th century. Unlike a traditional, historiographical review focused only on the evolution of academic science, this one uses a more integrative approach based on a reconstruction of key concepts and mechanisms of historical culture (including education, the church and spiritual schools, museums, historical societies and archeographic institutions, regional communities, etc) The study of historical knowledge is complemented by extensive essays on the evolution of historical consciousness (including its receptive and creative components) and on the dynamics of historical imagination in Russian art and literature of the 18th and 19th centuries.