Product Description

An intimate portrait of 200 years of Russian history, drawing on the memoirs, letters and artwork of the author's family archives, discovered on a visit to the remote village of Sergievskoye. Schemann covers 19th century Russia with czar and church, peasants and masters; the revolution; then exile and destruction of the family estate.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #762312 in Books
• Published on: 1998-12-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 447 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Russia is a land of far-flung villages, even though most of its history has been made in the cities. In this affecting narrative, New York Times correspondent Serge Schmemann returns to his ancestral village of Koltsovo, 90 miles south of Moscow, to plumb the histories of both his forebears and the country. Drawing on a range of archival material, Schmemann offers a narrative as packed with names, incidents, and memories as any Tolstoy novel. His search for roots yields a compassionate portrait of a nation in difficult times that is full of details about daily life.

SUNDAY TIMES
'Among its many merits are its integrity (and) its insights into the Russian soul'

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
'Evokes the flavour of prerevolutionary life better than any history'

Customer Reviews

A tragic yet magnificent story
You do not have to be interested in Russian history to be able to cope with this book, as it is so wonderfully written. Schmemann almost takes you to the heart of russian rural life and captures its atmosphere quite brilliantly. The tragic story of his family is what the novel is based on, but it is the underlying evidence of the destruction and suffering that communist Russia has left behind that leaves you truly moved. Scmemann writes with a sense of bitterness but at the same time gives the reader a wonderfully emotional tale, that, in some ways, puts your own life into serious perspective.