Recent Developments in Economic History, 1700-1940
Author(s)
Owen, Thomas C.
Abstract
Discusses post-Soviet scholarship on Russian economic history from Peter I’s reign to the onset of World War II, noting those praiseworthy works that illustrate major trends in the 1990’s on five aspects of economic history: state policy, trade, industry, agriculture, and finance. Also specifies the strategies needed to repair the damage done by the excessive politicization of the social sciences during the Soviet period and the financial problems of libraries, archives, universities, and academic presses since the 1980’s. These strategies include the republication of rare books published in the early 20th century in Russia and after the Bolshevik Revolution in emigration, collaborative efforts between Russian and other scholars, and collaboration on quantitative research projects. It will probably be several decades before Russian scholarship on economic history is integrated with the mainstream of world scholarship.
