WORKING THE ROUGH STONE: FREEMASONRY AND SOCIETY IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY RUSSIA [Hardcover]

DOUGLAS SMITH (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

Using a wealth of archival sources previously unavailable to scholars, Smith examines the forces that attracted many social and intellectual leaders of eighteenth-century Russia to Freemasonry as an instrument for change and progress. By "working the rough stone" of their inner thoughts and feelings, such men sought to become champions of moral enlightenment and to create a vision of social action that could bring about change without challenging the social and political precepts on which Russia's stability depended.

By challenging a number of long-held notions about Russian society, Smith broadens our understanding of the complex history of eighteenth-century Russia. Engagingly written and richly illustrated with rare engravings of Masonic life and ritual, this volume will appeal to readers interested in Russia, Europe, the Enlightenment, and the history of Freemasonry.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Working the Rough Stone, built on a rich documentary base and catholic in scope, is a solid contribution to the study of early modern Russian elite culture."—Slavic and East European Journal

"A welcome contribution.... Fills a major void in the literature."—Slavic Review

"The most complete and accessible account of the structure and development of the Russian masonic movement in the English language."—Slavonic and East European Review

About the Author

Douglas Smith is editor and translator of Love and Conquest: Personal Correspondence of Catherine the Great and Prince Grigory Potemkin, which won the 2004 Heldt Prize for Translation. He lives in Seattle.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 267 pages
• Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press; 1 edition (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087580246X
• ISBN-13: 978-0875802466
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,926,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Douglas Smith is an awarding-winning historian and translator and a Resident Scholar at the University of Washington's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. He studied German and Russian at the University of Vermont and has a doctorate in history from UCLA.

Over the past twenty-five years Smith has made many trips to Russia. In the 1980s, he was a Russian-speaking guide on the U. S. State Department's exhibition "Information USA" that traveled throughout the USSR. He has worked as a Soviet affairs analyst at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich, Germany specializing in Russian nationalism and served as an interpreter for late President Reagan.

Smith has taught and lectured widely in the United States, Britain, and Europe and has appeared in documentaries for A&E and National Geographic. A regular contributor to The Seattle Times and other publications, he is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including a Fulbright scholarship and a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Study Center.

His newest book, Former People: The Destruction of the Russian Nobility, 1917-1941, is scheduled for publication in 2012

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exceptional historical study of freemasonry in Russia, August 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: WORKING THE ROUGH STONE: FREEMASONRY AND SOCIETY IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY RUSSIA (Hardcover)

With a wealth of archival sources previously unavailable, this first study of eighteenth-century Russian Freemasonry to appear in English examines the Masonic lodges and their meaning for the men who were drawn to them. As some of the earliest organizations in Russia to open membership beyond social class, the lodges offered the opportunity for social interaction, personal discipline, and a free exchange of ideas. Teaching new standards of civility and politeness, they helped to prepare the way for the birth of a civil society in Russia. WORKING THE ROUGH STONE reveals the private world of Masonic lodges and the significance of the brothers' rituals and practices. By "working the rough stone" of their inner thoughts and feelings, the social and intellectual leaders who belonged to the lodges sought to distinguish themselves as champions of moral enlightenment. As men of conscience and superior moral worth, many envisioned a future of social action that could bring about change without challenging the social and political precepts on which Russia's stability depended. In addition to exploring the inner workings of the Masonic lodges, WORKING THE ROUGH STONE shows how Freemasonry became part of a larger social transformation that saw the development of salons, literary circles, and learned societies. As quiet shelters for men of learning and conscience, these institutions offered a social alternative to life at the tsarist court. The lodges thus played an important role in fashioning personal and social identities at a time when questions of identity were widely debated in Russia. During the reign of Catherine the Great, the lodges were perceived as havens for democratic ideas dangerous to the aristocracy, and many of them were forced to close their doors. Freemasonry would eventually flourish again in Russia, although the lodges' fortunes have fluctuated with history's upheavals. For Smith, Freemasonry is a prism through which to view changes in Russian society Anyone interested in Russia, Europe during the Enlightenment, and the history of Freemasonry will find WORKING THE ROUGH STONE rich with insight into the hidden social nexuses that created cultural politics in the 18th century.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting!, October 13, 2010

By 

Peter P. Fuchs (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: WORKING THE ROUGH STONE: FREEMASONRY AND SOCIETY IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY RUSSIA (Hardcover)

This is a very rich and detailed book, which makes one meditate on how varied Russian Freemasonry was, while in a sense being somewhat imported (from Sweden). It doesn't raise the more foundational question of whether Russian society at the time could have actually supported Freemasonry as a phenomenon, at least in the same form it existed in the rest of Europe. But it brings one into fascinating corners of endeavor that are often overlooked in relation to Russian history, if one looks at the major histories. At any rate it all seems very elegant and refined, so unlike all the nutty, pathetic and lunatic fringe of anti-Masonic conspiracy theorists operating in Russia today imagining Masonry behind every bush. Where there is ignorance and lack of education, and lack of personal integrity people will create whatever they want. It all has nothing to do with Freemasonry or its humane goals in the world.