Princes Yusupovs

On the eve of 1914, the Yusupov princes topped the list of about a hundred surnames of the most noble and wealthy representatives of the Russian aristocracy. This study contains a comprehensive analysis of the economic and social position of this small but politically and culturally influential layer of the largest landowners in the last decades of the existence of the Russian Empire.
The book discusses the problems of adapting the economy of the Russian landowning aristocracy in the conditions of capitalist modernization during the period from 1890 to 1914, the development of urban and rural estate complexes. It examines educational and professional preferences, as well as some aspects of everyday life and social psychology of the representatives of the noble elite. The author pays special attention to the role of the aristocracy in court life under the last Russian monarch, and the relationships between the Yusupovs and the members of the imperial family.
A wide range of sources was used in preparing the book, including unpublished archival materials that are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.