Book details

Lenin's Private War

The Voyage of the Philosophy Steamer and the Exile of the Intelligentsia

Author: Lesley Chamberlain

Lenin's Private War

Lenin's Private War

$11.99

About This Book

In 1922, Lenin personally drew up a list of some 160 ‘undesirable' intellectuals – mostly philosophers, academics, scientists and journalists – to be deported from the new Soviet State. ‘We're...

Page Count
432
Genre
On Sale
08/07/2007

Book Details

In 1922, Lenin personally drew up a list of some 160 ‘undesirable' intellectuals – mostly philosophers, academics, scientists and journalists – to be deported from the new Soviet State. ‘We're going to cleanse Russia once and for all' he wrote to Stalin, whose job it was to oversee the deportation. Two ships sailed from Petrograd that autumn, taking Old Russia's eminent men and their families away to what would become permanent exile in Berlin, Prague and Paris. Lesley Chamberlain creates a rich portrait of this chilling historical moment, evoked with immediacy through the journals, letters, and memoirs of the exiles.

Imprint Publisher

St. Martin's Press

ISBN

9781429969727

In The News

“Recounted in fascinating detail...Chamberlain brings these forgotten figures back to life with great skill and sympathy.” —William Grimes, The New York Times

“Lenin's Private War is infused with a deep understanding of the rich history of Russian thought.” —The Seattle Times

“Movingly describes the experience of exile in ways that echo that great exile novelist Nabokov himself...Chamberlain has a rare gift.” —Sunday Telegraph

“Compelling, laudably unsentimental and deeply significant to the history of ideas.” —The Guardian

“Both learned and absorbing…Chamberlain has written a fine monument to a generation of thinkers who addressed questions of contemporary relevance and deserve to be better known.” —The Economist

About the Creators

Lenin's Private War

Lenin's Private War

$11.99