This book is the first general study of the history of domestic mortgage banks, which were an important part of the lending system in both pre-reform and post-reform Russia. This study shows the unique features of pre-reform mortgage lending when the state held a monopoly in bank lending. Significant attention is paid to post-reform public, private and cooperative mortgage banks. The book covers a wide range of issues characterizing the activities of these banks as part of the dynamic modernization that took place during the second half of the 19^th century and early 20^th century: the establishment, legal regulation, governmental policies with respect to banks, the range and dynamics of their operations, interbank connections, clientele, financial standing, and the role in post-reform economic restructuring. The concept of bourgeois activities of post-reform land banks, both in nature and consequence, is formulated for the first time. Using traditional and quantitative methods of analyzing mass data, the author shows the impact of mortgage lending on Russia’s bourgeois and agrarian evolution in the late 19^th and early 20^th century: the creation of a land market, capitalization of landowners, the individualization of peasant farms, and the development of urban construction. The book provides statistical tables, banking group charts and indices.            
The book is intended for readers interested in economic history and the history of mortgage lending in pre-Revolutionary Russia.