Up from Serfdom: My Childhood and Youth in Russia, 1804-1824
R 1,165
or 4 x payments of R291.25 with
Availability: Currently in Stock
Delivery: 10-20 working days
Please be aware orders placed now may not arrive in time for Christmas, please check delivery times.
Up from Serfdom: My Childhood and Youth in Russia, 1804-1824
“A rare and powerful document. Nikitenko’s memoir should take its place next to the very best ex-slave narratives and those of untouchables in India.â€Â—James C. Scott
“An important historical account that reveals a great deal about the realities of serfdom.â€Â—Juliet Wittman, Washington Post Book World
“One of the best surviving accounts of Russian serfdom.â€Â—Blake Eskin, Lingua Franca
Aleksandr Nikitenko, born into Russian serfdom in 1804, almost miraculously gained his freedom as a young man, thirty-seven years before serfdom was abolished in the Russian Empire. His compelling autobiography--here translated into English for the first time—is one of the very few ever written by a former serf. Nikitenko describes the tragedy, despair, unpredictability, and astounding luck of his youth, bringing to life as never before the experience of a serf in nineteenth-century Russia.