Amanda DiGioia is a graduate student at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London.

Introduction: 'I demand satisfaction' Chapter 1. 'A real muzhik': toxic masculinity, duelling, and Russia Chapter 2. Gory, Heinous, and Crude: Duelling in Russia from Peter the Great to Today Chapter 3. A Gendered Reading of Canonical Texts: Toxic Masculinity, Turgenev, and the Russian Duel in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Chapter 4. 'Cry on the Inside': Analysis of The Duelist Chapter 5. 'If It's Hostile, You Kill It': Duelling in the Metro Series Conclusion

This book, written from a feminist perspective, uses the focus of duelling to discuss the nature of masculinity in Russia. It traces the development of duelling and masculinity historically from the time of Peter the Great onwards, considers how duelling and masculinity have been represented in both literature and ¿lm and assesses the high emphasis given in Soviet times to gender equality, arguing that this was a failed experiment that ran counter to Russian tradition. It examines how duelling continues to be a feature of life in contemporary Russia and relates the situation in Russia to wider scholarship on the nature of masculinity more generally. Overall, the book contends that Russia's valuing of a strong, militaristic form of masculinity is a major problem.