Maria Salomon Arel teaches in the Department of History at Marianopolis College.

Maria Salomon Arel’s monograph presents a fascinating study of English trading activities in Russia, charting the course of the Muscovy Company’s ventures amidst the turbulent times of the seventeenth century. It challenges the traditional narrative of the Muscovy Company’s commercial decline in the face of ascendant Dutch competition, and draws on the rich source material of British and Russian archives, including the neglected (literally) London Port Books, to show that the English were not merely surviving but thriving in the early years of the Romanov rule. . . . Arel presents a compelling and captivating narrative of the success and importance of the Muscovy Company’s trade in seventeenth-century Russia. Confronting the outdated (and often unsupported) assumptions of the traditional narrative, Arel skillfully shapes her argument armed with an impressive arsenal of archival material. The monograph, which took the long road to completion, is exemplary of a great work of history. Scholars and students of early modern trade and adventure, merchant diasporas, and Anglo-Russian relations will find it of immense interest.

• Chapter One: Weathering the Storm: The Russia Trade in the First Two Decades of the Seventeenth CenturyChapter Two: Turning the Corner: The ‘New’ Muscovy Company EmergesChapter Three: The Russia Merchants and Their Trade Partners, 1620s-40s: From London to MoscowChapter Four: An Enterprise Recovered: The Russia Trade, 1620s-40s Chapter Five: The English Quest for Justice in Russia Chapter Six: Of Foes, Fraud, and Friends in the Russia Trade Chapter Seven: The End of an Era in the Russia Trade

Maria Salomon Arel teaches in the Department of History at Marianopolis College.

Maria Salomon Arel’s monograph presents a fascinating study of English trading activities in Russia, charting the course of the Muscovy Company’s ventures amidst the turbulent times of the seventeenth century. It challenges the traditional narrative of the Muscovy Company’s commercial decline in the face of ascendant Dutch competition, and draws on the rich source material of British and Russian archives, including the neglected (literally) London Port Books, to show that the English were not merely surviving but thriving in the early years of the Romanov rule. . . . Arel presents a compelling and captivating narrative of the success and importance of the Muscovy Company’s trade in seventeenth-century Russia. Confronting the outdated (and often unsupported) assumptions of the traditional narrative, Arel skillfully shapes her argument armed with an impressive arsenal of archival material. The monograph, which took the long road to completion, is exemplary of a great work of history. Scholars and students of early modern trade and adventure, merchant diasporas, and Anglo-Russian relations will find it of immense interest.

• Chapter One: Weathering the Storm: The Russia Trade in the First Two Decades of the Seventeenth CenturyChapter Two: Turning the Corner: The ‘New’ Muscovy Company EmergesChapter Three: The Russia Merchants and Their Trade Partners, 1620s-40s: From London to MoscowChapter Four: An Enterprise Recovered: The Russia Trade, 1620s-40s Chapter Five: The English Quest for Justice in Russia Chapter Six: Of Foes, Fraud, and Friends in the Russia Trade Chapter Seven: The End of an Era in the Russia Trade

Maria Salomon Arel teaches in the Department of History at Marianopolis College.

Maria Salomon Arel’s monograph presents a fascinating study of English trading activities in Russia, charting the course of the Muscovy Company’s ventures amidst the turbulent times of the seventeenth century. It challenges the traditional narrative of the Muscovy Company’s commercial decline in the face of ascendant Dutch competition, and draws on the rich source material of British and Russian archives, including the neglected (literally) London Port Books, to show that the English were not merely surviving but thriving in the early years of the Romanov rule. . . . Arel presents a compelling and captivating narrative of the success and importance of the Muscovy Company’s trade in seventeenth-century Russia. Confronting the outdated (and often unsupported) assumptions of the traditional narrative, Arel skillfully shapes her argument armed with an impressive arsenal of archival material. The monograph, which took the long road to completion, is exemplary of a great work of history. Scholars and students of early modern trade and adventure, merchant diasporas, and Anglo-Russian relations will find it of immense interest.

• Chapter One: Weathering the Storm: The Russia Trade in the First Two Decades of the Seventeenth CenturyChapter Two: Turning the Corner: The ‘New’ Muscovy Company EmergesChapter Three: The Russia Merchants and Their Trade Partners, 1620s-40s: From London to MoscowChapter Four: An Enterprise Recovered: The Russia Trade, 1620s-40s Chapter Five: The English Quest for Justice in Russia Chapter Six: Of Foes, Fraud, and Friends in the Russia Trade Chapter Seven: The End of an Era in the Russia Trade