The Empire of Vice. Whores, Prostitutes, and Mistresses in Tsarist Russia

In her new book, writer and blogger Nika Marsh (author of bestsellers «Princess for Sale», «Strong Ties», «Inside Out House», and «Cruel Marriage») boldly introduces the reader to the «glamor and poverty» of brothels in the 19th-20th centuries, where luxury coexisted with despair, and behind outward respectability lay serious crimes.
You will learn how women of this profession lived: «blank» loners and officially registered «yellow ticket holders», their resourceful «madams», «nannies», «generals», as well as «actresses», dancers, and singers who were automatically equated with mistresses by their contemporaries, how prostitution was linked to the criminal world, and how the state in different eras tried to combat this phenomenon or at least bring it under control.
How did the midwife Marta Skavronskaya become the Empress of All Russia? What age limit existed during the reign of Nicholas I for the owners of houses of tolerance? How did «cover-up dens» operate and what was the fate of Teresa Grünwald, whom the critic Nikolai Dobrolyubov took under his wing from a public house?
With remarkable sensitivity and insight, Nika Marsh paints a detailed picture of the typical life of prostitutes in tsarist Russia, masterfully intertwining related themes into the complex research: adultery and attitudes towards it in Russia, lechery, noble harems, the criminal history of the empire, and many more. The book features representatives from various social strata: from the famous «Valdai girls» to the renowned ballerina Avdotya Istomina, whom Pushkin wrote about with admiration, from marginals to grand dukes.

This book is a vivid and insightful portrait of a society where vice became business, and love became a commodity.