Murder Most Russian

How a society defines crimes and prosecutes criminals illuminates its cultural values, social norms, and political expectations. In Murder Most Russian, Louise McReynolds uses a fascinating series of murders and subsequent trials that took place in the wake of the 1864 legal reforms enacted by Tsar Alexander II to understand the impact of these reforms on Russian society before the Revolution of 1917. For the first time in Russian history, the accused were placed in the hands of juries of common citizens in courtrooms that were open to the press. Drawing on a wide array of sources, McReynolds reconstructs murders that gripped Russian society, from the case of Andrei Gilevich, who advertised for a personal secretary and beheaded the respondent as a way of perpetrating insurance fraud, to the beating death of Marianna Time at the hands of two young aristocrats who hoped to steal her diamond earrings. As McReynolds shows, newspapers covered such trials extensively, transforming the courtroom into the most public site in Russia for deliberation about legality and justice. To understand the cultural and social consequences of murder in late imperial Russia, she analyzes the discussions that arose among the emergent professional criminologists, defense attorneys, and expert forensic witnesses about what made a defendant's behavior "criminal." She also deftly connects real criminal trials to the burgeoning literary genre of crime fiction and fruitfully compares the Russian case to examples of crimes both from Western Europe and the United States in this period. Murder Most Russian will appeal not only to readers interested in Russian culture and true crime but also to historians who study criminology, urbanization, the role of the social sciences in forging the modern state, evolving notions of the self and the psyche, the instability of gender norms, and sensationalism in the modern media.

How a society defines crimes and prosecutes criminals illuminates its cultural values, social norms, and political expectations. In Murder Most Russian, Louise McReynolds draws on a fascinating series of murders and subsequent trials that took place in the wake of the 1864 legal reforms enacted by Tsar Alexander II. For the first time in Russian history, the accused were placed in the hands of juries of common citizens in courtrooms that were open to the press. Drawing on a wide array of sources, McReynolds reconstructs murders that gripped Russian society, from the case of Andrei Gilevich, who advertised for a personal secretary and beheaded the respondent as a way of perpetrating insurance fraud, to the beating death of Marianna Time at the hands of two young aristocrats who hoped to steal her diamond earrings. As McReynolds shows, newspapers covered such trials extensively, transforming the courtroom into the most public site in Russia for deliberation about legality and justice. To understand the cultural and social consequences of murder in late imperial Russia, she analyzes the discussions that arose among the emergent professional criminologists, defense attorneys, and expert forensic witnesses about what made a defendant’s behavior "criminal." She also deftly connects real criminal trials to the burgeoning literary genre of crime fiction and fruitfully compares the Russian case to examples of crimes both from Western Europe and the United States in this period. Murder Most Russian will appeal not only to readers interested in Russian culture and true crime but also to historians who study criminology, urbanization, the role of the social sciences in forging the modern state, evolving notions of the self and the psyche, the instability of gender norms, and sensationalism in the modern media.

At once a financial caper, an international adventure, and a passionate plea for justice, Freezing Order is a stirring morality tale about how one man can take on one of the most dangerous and ruthless villains in the world.

Ranging from medieval Kievan Rus' to Vladimir Putin, Dark History of Russia explores the murder, brutality, genocide, insanity and skulduggery in the efforts to seize, and then maintain, power in the Slav heartland. Highly illustrated, Dark History of Russia is a fascinating story from the Mongol invasions to the present day.

The very words 'serial killer' are enough to strike fear into the heart of any normal person. While many of us are fascinated by this criminal breed and cannot resist the morbid need to learn more about them, we are also repulsed by the various atrocities and horrific acts that they are able to bring themselves to commit. Amongst the best known serial killers, not just in Russia but in the world, is the insanely evil Andrei Chikatilo, aka the Rostov Ripper. However, there were many other serial murderers in Russia that came before him and many that came after him - some were even inspired by him. In this book, you can learn more about some of the most evil serial killers in Russia and the unbelievably horrific acts that they committed, taking the lives of boys and girls, men and women, children and the elderly. Take Vasiliy Kulik for example - a serial killer from a wealthy background whose victim's ages ranged from just two through to seventy-five. Sergei Ryakhovsky was another killer that was not particularly bothered about age or gender, with his victims ranging from children through to old age pensioners. Another thing that is striking about many of these Russian serial killers is that many of them held down very respectable jobs before deciding to turn to murder as a new profession. For example, Mikhail Popkov was a police officer and was even involved in investigating some of the murders that he'd actually committed himself. Maxim Vladimirovich was an emergency doctor, who used his position to gain the trust of vulnerable patients so that he could rob and murder them. Anatoly Slivko ran his own children's club and Andre Chikatilo was a university graduate who had held down a number of teaching job. In this book we look at the cases and crimes of some of the most prolific serial killers in Russia - killers that have carried out crimes ranging from rape and sexual abuse through to murder, cannibalism and necrophilia. These are Russia's worst serial killers.

Russia is often portrayed as a regressive, even lawless country, and yet the Russian state has played a major role in shaping and experimenting with law as an instrument of power. In Law and the Russian State, William E. Pomeranz examines Russia's legal evolution from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin, addressing the continuities and disruptions of Russian law during the imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet. The book covers key themes, including: * Law and empire * Law and modernization * The politicization of law * The role of intellectuals and dissidents in mobilizing the law * The evolution of Russian legal institutions * The struggle for human rights * The rule-of-law * The quest to establish the law-based state It also analyzes legal culture and how Russians understand and use the law. With a detailed bibliography, this is an important text for anyone seeking a sophisticated understanding of how Russian society and the Russian state have developed in the last 350 years.

The shocking true story of the Russian serial killer who brutally murdered more than fifty victims—and evaded capture for over a decade. By the time he was brought to trial in 1992, Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo had killed more than fifty women and children, often sexually abusing them and leaving their bodies mutilated beyond recognition. Although he was initially arrested in 1984, the police lacked enough evidence to pin the unsolved murders on him and he was able to torture and kill dozens more before his eventual conviction. Compiling exclusive interviews and trial transcripts, journalist and editor at London’s Sunday Times Peter Conradi reveals how the grandfather and former teacher carried out a horrific twelve-year killing spree right under the nose of authority. Based on extensive research into Chikatilo’s past and the elements of Soviet society that allowed his crimes to go unsolved for so long, Conradi delves into the life of one of history’s most prolific and disturbing serial killers. Interviews with Moscow police detectives detail the fervent hunt for the man who preyed on young children, prostitutes, and runaways—a search that turned up many dead ends and false convictions before a massive undercover surveillance effort ultimately nabbed Chikatilo. A chilling look into the deranged mind of a monster, The Red Ripper is a comprehensive and shocking true crime account—plus photos—of one of the twentieth century’s deadliest killers and the manhunt to catch him.

Ever since Vladimir Putin came to power in Russia, his critics have turned up dead on a regular basis. According to Amy Knight, this is no coincidence. In Orders to Kill, the KGB scholar ties dozens of victims together to expose a campaign of political murder during Putin’s reign that even includes terrorist attacks such as the Boston Marathon bombing. Russia is no stranger to political murder, from the tsars to the Soviets to the Putin regime, during which many journalists, activists and political opponents have been killed. Kremlin defenders like to say, “There is no proof,” however convenient these deaths have been for Putin, and, unsurprisingly, because he controls all investigations, Putin is never seen holding a smoking gun. Orders to Kill is a story long hidden in plain sight with huge ramifications.