Emancipation reform of 1861 Emancipation reform of 1861 The Emancipation Reform of 1861 in Russia ( - "peasants' reform of 1861") was the first and most important of liberal reforms passed during the reign (1855-1881) of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. The reform effectively abolished serfdom throughout the Russian Empire. The 1861 Emancipation Manifesto proclaimed the emancipation of the serfs on private estates and of the domestic (household) serfs. By this edict more than 23 million people received their liberty. Serfs gained the full rights of free citizens, including rights to marry without having to gain consent, to own property and to own a
What Was Lost by night — crowded with shoppers during the day, but empty and bleak at night. She found ideas for her book from her job in the Merry Hill Shopping Centre near Dudley in the West Midlands. "What Was Lost" was rejected by 20 agents and publishers before being accepted for publication by Tindal Street Press, a small Birmingham publisher. "What Was Lost" is a mystery story about a missing girl. It is also a portrait of a changing community over twenty years. It examines modern life's emptiness, and society's obsession with shopping. "What Was Lost" is set in the city