Russia is famous for its vodka, and its culture of extreme intoxication. But just as vodka is central to the lives of many Russians, it is also central to understanding Russian history and politics.

In Vodka Politics, Mark Lawrence Schrad argues that debilitating societal alcoholism is not hard-wired into Russians' genetic code, but rather their autocratic political system, which has long wielded vodka as a tool of statecraft. Through a series of historical investigations stretching from Ivan the Terrible through Vladimir Putin, Vodka Politics presents the secret history of the Russian state itself-a history that is drenched in liquor. Scrutinizing (rather than dismissing) the role of alcohol in Russian politics yields a more nuanced understanding of Russian history itself: from palace intrigues under the tsars to the drunken antics of Soviet and post-Soviet leadership, vodka is there in abundance.

Beyond vivid anecdotes, Schrad scours original documents and archival evidence to answer provocative historical questions. How have Russia's rulers used alcohol to solidify their autocratic rule? What role did alcohol play in tsarist coups? Was Nicholas II's ill-fated prohibition a catalyst for the Bolshevik Revolution? Could the Soviet Union have become a world power without liquor? How did vodka politics contribute to the collapse of both communism and public health in the 1990s? How can the Kremlin overcome vodka's hurdles to produce greater social well-being, prosperity, and democracy into the future?

Viewing Russian history through the bottom of the vodka bottle helps us to understand why the "liquor question" remains important to Russian high politics even today-almost a century after the issue had been put to bed in most every other modern state. Indeed, recognizing and confronting vodka's devastating political legacies may be the greatest political challenge for this generation of Russia's leadership, as well as the next.

Editorial Reviews

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In this extensive but accessible account, Schrad (The Political Power of Bad Ideas) argues that throughout history the Russian (and Soviet) autocracy has been intrinsically--and often tragically--linked to vodka. ... In the post-Soviet era, the Russian Federation's own reliance on vodka has overseen a demographic disaster, in which rampant alcoholism has sunk Russian life expectancy to the lowest in Europe. As Schrad puts it, "the single greatest obstacle to a normal, healthy, and wealthy Russia" is the predominance of "the state's own vodka politics." -Publisher's Weekly

Overall, Schrad's strong research and analysis of economic policies and their social impact carry his argument. Social and economics historians or activists seeking to understand or tackle the ongoing Russian dependence upon vodka will find this work compelling.--Elizabeth Zeitz, Otterbein Univ. Lib., Westerville, OH (Library Journal)

From the Back Cover

"A gripping and original book." -Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

"Vodka Politics retells the history of the Russian state as a startling, almost Grand-Guignol narrative of spiritous excess, with one autocratic regime after another using drink to befuddle its courtiers, pacify its masses, stoke its imperial ambitions, and keep its treasury full." -David Courtwright, author of Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World

"Written in a lively and entertaining fashion, Vodka Politics details the enduring link between autocracy and alcohol across the expanse of Russian history. In this impressive interpretive history, Mark Schrad leaves no stone unturned in laying out how vodka became intertwined with governance in Russia and the tragic consequences that this has had for Russian society." -Mark Beissinger, Princeton University, author of Nationalist Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet State

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Product details

Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (February 5, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780199755592
ISBN-13: 978-0199755592
ASIN: 0199755590
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 1.7 x 6.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Customer Reviews: 24 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,235,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1268 in Alcoholic Spirits
- #3543 in Russian History (Books)
- #636 in Russian & Former Soviet Union Politics

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24 customer reviews

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Alex

Amazing

October 1, 2019

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

One of the best books I have read in a while. While long, it was always an interesting read, well researched, superbly narrated, offering a unique and interesting perspective on major events in Russian history. While stressed enough in the book that vodka is but one of the factors playing a role, I can’t help but feel converted that it had an important role that was generally omitted. Watching Russian historical movies I now see that vodka is an indispensable part of storytelling. Can’t recommend highly enough this book.

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Jessica S.

This is a crazy awesome book, and makes the Russian autocracy very easy ...

February 7, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is a crazy awesome book, and makes the Russian autocracy very easy to understand. The history is excellent and the topic showing the correlation between Vodka and the control it had over Russia is incredible. Got to meet the Author in my class at Widener University after our class read the book and he was super intelligent and knew his book in and out!!!!

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Paul Gelman

Brilliant, original, riveting!

March 14, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Sometimes you may have to wait quite a long time in order to read such a masterful book like Professor's Schrad gripping book. It is about the way in which vodka and other spirits have influenced the long, rich and arduous history of Russia.
His main thesis is that since the days of the Vladimir the Great of Kiev, alcohol has been used to make the Russians happy. The traditional drinks of Russia were naturally fermented beers, ales, meads and kvas. The imposition of the more potent artificial, distilled spirits came only with the imposition of the modern autocratic state, which used vodka to siphon off society's wealth into the treasury, making this drink the central pillar of Russian autocratic statecraft. Vodka, corruption and autocracy have been intertwined in Russia ever since.
Its secondary thesis is that, in a way, Russian rules conducted a kind of controlled schizophrenic policy vis-av-vis vodka: on the oned hand there were those who encouraged the masses to drink(Stalin being one of them) and on the other hand there were those who were against it(Lenin who was really paranoic about it, and Gorbachev). The reason: vodka was a powerful tool to control the masses and also served as a principal source of income for the state.
What is great about this book is the vivid style of writing, demonstrating again that only some people belonging to the academia can also write not only for their peers but also for the history buff as well. The author demonstrates that since its inception, Russia was drenched in alcohol. This fact created the tragic consequences for the Russian society. It hastened the demise of the Soviet Union itself and caused what Professor Schrad calls "the literal demodernization of a twentieth century country".
Just to give you an example: after Gorbachev announced a crackdown on the sales or production of vodka, which claimed the lives of tens of millions (mind you, this is no mistake), the most hard of drinkers turned to alcohol surrogates; from mouthwash, eau-de-cologne and perfumed to gasoline, cockroach poison, brake fluid, medical adhesives and even shoe polish on a slice of bread.
Another example: "Soldiers in the Soviet Army would offer their last piece of bread to their comrades in order to get vodka and they drank everything just as during the Civil War: aftershave lotions, medicines and liquids containing poisons".
Alcoholism runs like a red thread throughout Dostoyevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment" and Marmeladov is only the first noteworthy drunkard. Tolstoy suggested that it was alcohol that clouded Raskolnikov's judgment and led to his inhuman axe murders. The pervasive drunkenness of the Russian soldiers contributed to the military defeat of Russia in the Crimean War during the nineteenth century. Forty-four percent of all military deaths were attributable to alcohol. One can conclude that the chief contributory cause of the Bolshevik Revolution was the prohibition in 1914 of the sale of spiritous liquors.
As stated by its author, this book does not pretend to say that vodka was/is everything in Russian history, thus it it not a monocausal explanation of Russian history and culture, but "vodka politics means a lot and it is an alternative lens through which Russia's complex politics and development is seen".
By using newly dicovered documents hitherto classified and by integrating them with an in-depth examination of secondary sources, by incorporating studies from many fields such as sociology, political science, literature, memories and various diaries, anthropology, letters as well as demographic studies, Professor Schrad has managed to write a book of twenty-four chapters (overpacked with many details and anecdotes in addition to excellent analyses) which is both a masterpiece and will definitely become a classic of its kind. This book is more than highly recommended for anyone who would like to enjoy reading about an original idea, examined almost microscopically, leaving no stone unturned . And in addition, it is also a great read!

19 people found this helpful

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Dan

Entertaining and informative, but most of all, informative.

May 23, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This delightful book presents Russian history through a lens that makes eminent sense and while so doing also makes it lively and easy to comprehend. The mention in context of neighboring states, especially Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, plus Poland and the Swedish solution to the national alcoholism problem were also useful. I recommend this book most highly.

3 people found this helpful

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jeremy sandusky

good book but it could have said just as much ...

March 1, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

good book but it could have said just as much in about 50-75 less pages. a few parts dragged on. however i learned a lot about Russian history and that alone was worth the price of admission

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N. Nelson

Russia

May 22, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This looks like an interesting book. I have read The King of Vodka, and I expect this book to be as good, as a social, cultural, political, and economic history of Russia.

2 people found this helpful

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Captain Kip

Five Stars

October 21, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

a textbook at a a big ten university...incredibly interesting into the Russian society and politics

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Audrey Skrupskelis

Very interesting

May 23, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Valuable information for those who are researching this historical era.

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