Russian Literature and Empire
Conquest of the Caucasus from Pushkin to Tolstoy

"This is a well-written and well-researched book which traces the history of the large and infuential body of literature, produced mainly in the nineteenth century, about the Russian Empire's colonialist expansion into the Caucasus and southern border regions....Layton's nuanced and eminently readable interpretations combine textual exegesis with the reception of the works and with the historical context of the fortunes of the war and public opinion. One of the strengths of her book is that she analyzes not only the major writers but also the "little Orientalizers" who rode on the coattails of the major writers, and she also includes an analysis of mass-consumption broadsides and popular nonfictional accounts of the conquest. In many cases Layton's readings of texts are quite original, and I learned a great deal from them....Layton smoothly navigates among the pitfalls of the constantly changing scholarly (Russian Review continued)

perspective on this extremely influential group of texts reaching from Pushkin to the old Tolstoy....Layton has provided a wonderfully detailed, organized book on a far-flung, complicated subject, and anyone who reads, teaches or researches the writers she treats should certainly consult this book." The Russian Review

"In laying bare the ambivalent and often contradictory expectations of this market, Layton is acute and perceptive...there is much to be learnt from this investigation of an imperial relationship which contained elements of both the creative and the destructive." Goeffrey Hosking, Russian Literature