Description
Book SynopsisThis study of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (19182008) and his writings focuses on his reflections on the religiopolitical trajectories of Russia and the West, understood as distinct civilizations. In his examination of the author and his work, Lee Congdon explores the consequences of the atheistic socialism that drove the Russian revolutionary movement. Beginning with a description of the post-revolutionary Russia into which Solzhenitsyn was born, Congdon outlines the Bolshevik victory in the civil war, the origins of the concentration camp system, and the Bolsheviks'' war on Christianity and the Russian Orthodox Church. He then focuses on Solzhenitsyn''s arrest near the war''s end, his time in the labor camps, and his struggle with cancer. Congdon describes his time in exile and increasing alienation from the Western way of life, as well as his return home and his final years. He concludes with a reminder of Solzhenitsyn''s warning to the Westthat it was on a path parallel to that which
Trade Review
"Superb and moving."—Istv\u00e1n De\u00e1k, East European Politics and Societies
"Pioneering!... A stimulating and skillfully written analysis of the Hungarian \u00e9migr\u00e9 political left."
-Joseph Held, Editor of The Columbia History of Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century
Lee Congdon offers the best guide in print to Solzhenitsyn's views, including their evolution, largely because Congdon accepts the writer for what he was: a Russian and Eastern Orthodox conservative – one and the same in Solzhenitsyn's mind.
* Times Literary Supplement *
Congdon's sociohistorical and political focus is formidable, and he brilliantly supports his premise that Solzhenitsyn's writings expose the nature of totalitarian power and its corruptive effects on human lives in Russia. Highly recommended.
* Choice *
Solzhenitsyn's lucid style and choice of illustrative examples make for easy and pleasant reading.
* The Russian Review *
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
Introduction: A New Faith
Chapter One: "The Soviet Experiment"
Chapter Two: The War Years
Chapter Three: The Cultural Cold War
Chapter Four: The New Emigr\u00e9s
Epilogue: Beyond Anticommunism
Notes
Bibliography
Index
