Description: A comparative examination of everyday social moralities relating to sex, crime, violence, and nightlife in cities of the 1920s.
Brief description: Mark D. Steinberg is Professor of History at the University of Illinois, USA. He is the author of several books, including A History of Russia (9th Ed., 2018; co-authored with Nicholas V. Riasanovsky), The Russian Revolution, 1905-1921 (2017) and Petersburg Fin de Siècle (2011). His books have been translated into Portuguese, Japanese and Russian. He is also the co-editor of volumes such as Interpreting Emotions in Russia and Eastern Europe (2011; with Valeria Sobol) and Religion, Morality, and Community in Post-Soviet Societies (2008; with Catherine Wanner).
Review Quotes:
"Steinberg's book offers a lively insight into the street corner as the unruly centre of urban life in three ill-reputed cities of the interwar years. It is fascinating to read how urban reportage, driven by curiosity and shocked by so much diversity, created a discourse on morals and orderly behaviour." --Joachim Schlör, Professor emeritus, University of Southampton, UK
"Steinberg deftly explores the moral tales of everyday life in the roaring Twenties and finds the richness of street life shared across three extraordinary cosmopolitan cities. Deeply researched, the book weaves together a profusion of characters and the stories they wove of the wayward and the respectable. A must read on the city." --Rosemary Wakeman, Professor of History, Fordham University, USA