Introduction: talking as history -- Glasnostʹ in practice: public speaking in the reform era, 1856-67 -- Trials and tribulations: the long 1870s, 1867-81 -- Small deeds and muffled voices: the age of counter-reform, 1881-95 -- The rise of political speech, 1895-1905 -- Public speaking in the age of the State Duma -- Revolutionary talk, 1917-18 -- Soviet talk -- Epilogue
Summary
How Russia Learned to Talk offers an entirely new perspective on Russian political culture, showing the era from Alexander II's Great Reforms to early Stalinism as a single 'stenographic age', with all of Russia's rulers, whether tsars or Bolsheviks, grappling with the challenges and opportunities of mass politics and modern communications