This is an important study of the distinctiveness of the Russian Enlightenment. Professor Wirtschafter presents an extraordinarily wide-ranging, erudite and lucid analysis of Russian government, society, intellectual life and culture to demonstrate convincingly why in practice the 'lived Enlightenment' failed to challenge the political and social order.

Janet Hartley, Professor Emeritus of International History, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

A compelling, highly original analysis, by a foremost American historian, of Russia's engagement in and experience of the European Enlightenment in the Long 18th Century, which is as convincing as it is cogent – and, moreover, as a significant contribution to the literature – long overdue.

Patrick O'Meara, Emeritus Professor of Russian and former Master of Van Mildert College, Durham University, UK

Elise Kimerling Wirtschafter's new book, Russia's Lived Enlightenment in The Long Eighteenth Century constitutes a genuinely outstanding contribution to our field. In the space of a mere 200+ pages it offers its readers a narrative that is simultaneously extensively researched, multi-dimensional, original, and absolutely crystal clear, offering important new insights into the interconnections of the discourses of state, educated society, and the Orthodox Church over the century-and-a half that it covers. It consistently challenges received wisdoms, rigid categorizations, and familiar stereotypes, offering in their place a nuanced and far more fluid reading of the Enlightenment phenomenon in Russia and elsewhere. Truly a pleasure to read and reflect upon.

Gary Marker, Professor of History Emeritus, Stony Brook University, USA