Letters from Russia (New York Review Books Classics) |
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Letters from Russia (New York Review Books Classics)
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by Astolphe De Custine, Anka Muhlstein, and Astolphe de Custine
Sales Rank: 403067
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List Price: $22.95
$15.61
At Amazon
on 6-21-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 640 pages
Published by: NYRB Classics; New Ed edition April 30, 2002
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0940322811
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0940322813
Book Dimensions:
7.8 x 5 x 1.5 inches
Weighs: 1.4 pounds
Product Description
The Marquis de Custine's record of his trip to Russia in 1839 is a brilliantly perceptive, even prophetic, account of one of the world's most fascinating and troubled countries. It is also a wonderful piece of travel writing. Custine, who met with people in all walks of life, including the Czar himself, offers vivid descriptions of St. Petersburg and Moscow, of life at court and on the street, and of the impoverished Russian countryside. But together with a wealth of sharply delineated incident and detail, Custine's great work also presents an indelible picture--roundly denounced by both Czarist and Communist regimes--of a country crushed by despotism and "intoxicated with slavery."
Letters from Russia, here published in a new edition prepared by Anka Muhlstein, the author of the Goncourt Prize-winning biography of Custine, stands with Tocqueville's Democracy in America as a profound and passionate encounter with historical forces that are still very much at work in the world today.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French
Reader Reviews
"Letters from Russia" is a remarkable travelogue by Adolphe De Custine - a somewhat haughty Frenchman - who travelled to Imperial Russia in the middle of the 19th century. De Custine himself was the descendant of aristocrats - his father and grandfather were both executed during the Terror in the aftermath of the French Revolution. De Custine was certainly convinced of the superiority of the aristocracy and Catholicism but was not taken with the Russian incarnation of these institutions. What makes this book so interesting is De Custine's incredibly perceptiveon the Russian psyche, which so easily explains how Russia could move from the tyranny of the all-knowing, all-powerful Tsar to the totalitarianism of the Communist regime. De Custine writes in a florid, sentimental style, typical of the age, which makes this long book somewhat heavy going. However, there are plenty of zingers along the way and many beautiful descriptions of the Russian landscape to keep the reader entertained. Probably not recommended to the average reader, but for students of Russian history this is certainly a "must-read".
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Letters from Russia (New York Review Books Classics)
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Price: $15.61
Updated on 6-21-2008.
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