A. M. Sakharov and the History of Old Rus

Abstract

The academic interests of Anatolii Mikhailovich Sakharov (1923-78) were broad, encompassing numerous problems of Russian history and culture. The chief objects of his attention, however, are questions that have long been central to any narrative of early Russian history — the development of towns, the process of Muscovite political centralization, the history of medieval Russian culture, and the Russian historiographic tradition. (1) While no one selection can do justice to the overall contribution Sakharov has made in each of these areas, the extracts that appear here in translation are representative of his interests and emphasize the breadth of Sakharov's scholarship.