First Published in 2004. Modernizing Muscovy is a comprehensive account of seventeenth-centuryRussian history. It rejects the traditional interpretation of this era as the twilightof the Russian Middle Ages. By revealing important instances of dynamicchange in the late Muscovite state, economy, and society, the book demonstratesthe crucial importance of pre-Petrine reform in Russia’s transition to one of thegreat powers of the world. The book’s broad scope makes it a veritableencyclopaedia of late Muscovite history. It both synthesizes previous scholarshipand breaks new ground in many important areas.