Annette Meakin
"The peasant women of Great Russia are not as a rule so good-looking as the men. I attribute this to the great proportion of Finnish blood in their veins. In all purely Mongol races the men are the handsomer sex." (Meakin, 57) Very similar format to most other nineteenth century travel accounts in Russia, down to the rather bland and undistinguishable title. The work is different from others of the era on Russia by at least three major facets. 1. A less criticial view on the society than was the norm. 2. An even heavier emphasis than was typical on studying women and assessing their conditions. 3. A more modest situatng of this travel account in the wider field, Meakin doesn’t claim to be delivering unique insight into the true soul of Russia.
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