Like many others, I've really enjoyed exploring the work of a number of famous cultural figure from late 19th century Russia (e.g. Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky have always been favorites of mine, pretty typical stuff), and I'd love to have a better understanding of the context they lived/worked in. To get a bit more specific about what sort of book I'm looking for...
Introductory. What I know from Russian history is basically what I've looked up so far to better understand the books written in that period (and I'm definitely a casual reader). And I'm open to whatever the best option is, but I do have lots to read and I'd prefer it be on the "introductory" rather than "comprehensive" side of length (but I know it's hard to strike that balance, so I'd consider anything).
Relevant to the world of those "famous cultural figures". This is obviously vague, I just mean that a book that is strictly about the life of the peasants, or the very highest levels of politics, would probably not be as useful as one that had a broader scope (although both parts are obviously relevant!). I've seen some recommendations that are strictly about the build-up to the 1917 revolution, and while I'm sure those topics are relevant, I was hoping for something a bit more expansive.
Any suggestions for where to start? Love reading all the content here.
For an introduction to 19th century Russia, Evtuhov and Stites' A History of Russia is a very nice text. The first third of the book or so is strictly on Imperial Russia, and should provide a nice background for further reading. It's well-written and adopts a narrative tone, which at times can elide (what I would consider) important information, but it's really rather strong for covering prerevolutionary Russia in a few hundred pages.
There are several books on Russian high culture that I would recommend. Prince Mirsky's History of Russian Literature is very much worth reading, though it is certainly out of date re modern scholarship; I haven't found any contemporary "histories/anthologies of Russian literature" that are as compelling as Mirsky's.
Costlow's Heart-Pine Russia is an interesting exploration of the place of the 'forest' in literature, especially Tolstoy and Turgenev. Nickell's The Death of Tolstoy examines his literal and symbolic death at the close of the Empire. Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky is very well-regarded, but you would probably benefit from reading Dostoevsky's work first, especially his earlier writings (it's a very, very expansive biography!).
There are a few author that I would recommend as well. Gogol's Nose and Overcoat, Turgenev's Sportsman's Sketches and Fathers and Sons, and Goncharov's Oblomov will all provide a slightly fleshed out view of mid-19th century Russian literature.
Hi there anyone interested in recommending things to OP! While you might have a title to share, this is still a thread on /r/AskHistorians, and we still want the replies here to be to an /r/AskHistorians standard - presumably OP would have asked at /r/history or /r/askreddit if they wanted non-specialist opinion. So give us some indication why the thing you're recommending is valuable, trustworthy, or applicable! Posts that provide no context for why you're recommending a particular podcast/book/novel/documentary/etc, and which aren't backed up by a historian-level knowledge on the accuracy and stance of the piece, will be removed.