L. Nauka. 1982. 295 p. The reform of taxation in Russia - the transition from a household tax to a poll tax-is one of the most important transformations of Peter the Great. It was a major stage in the history of the autocracy's financial and social policies. The book under review is the first experience of monographic study of this reform and introduces a lot of new things to its understanding. The author, a researcher at the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of History of the USSR of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Candidate of Historical Sciences E. V. Anisimov, considers the tax reform as "a very complex and multifaceted socio-political phenomenon" (p. 13). This approach has led to a broad formulation of research tasks. The monograph covers such issues as the tax system on the eve of reform, the development of its main principles and their practical implementation, financial results, and the impact of the new taxation system on the social structure and economy of the country. The author focuses on two major aspects of the reform - financial and social. The book is rich in factual material. The author studied the archival funds of institutions, page 127 which had a direct bearing on the tax reform (the Chancery of the Senate, the Chamber College, the Cabinet of Peter I), as well as landrat books, state archive categories, audit tales and other collections stored in the TSGADA. All these materials, mostly previously unused, form the source base of the study. The main conclusion reached by the author, analyzing the financial results of the reform, is that the introduction of the poll tax did not significantly change the severity of the tax burden. This statement contradicts the whole historiography of the question. Both pre-revolutionary and Soviet researchers (with the exception of S. G. Strumilin) believed that the poll tax was 2 - 2.5 times heavier than the household tax. For more than 40 years (1680-1724), writes E. V. Anisimov, taxes have increased on aver ... Читать далее