Solzhenitsyn
The Historical-Spiritual Destinies of Russia and the West
Published on 15. August 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
174 pages
978-1-5017-5523-1 (ISBN)
Description
In this examination of Solzhenitsyn 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 addresses the Bolshevik victory in the civil war, the origins of the concentration camp system, the Bolsheviks' war on Christianity and the Russian Orthodox Church, Solzhenitsyn's arrest near the war's end, his time in the labor camps, his struggle with cancer, his exile and increasing alienation from the Western way of life, and his return home. He concludes with a reminder of Solzhenitsyn's warning to the West-that it was on a path parallel to that which Russia had followed into the abyss.
Reviews / Votes
Lee Congdon's [book] 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) Lee Congdon's book comprises a short introduction to the historical and cultural context important for understanding the Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's life and writings.[T]he book's lucid style and choice of illustrative examples make for easy and pleasant reading.
(The Russian Review) One must applaud Lee Congdon, emeritus professor of history, James Madison University, for this timely volume.
(The Wanderer)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Cornell University Press
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5017-5523-1 (9781501755231)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2017
Northern Illinois University Press
€19.49
Available for download
Person
Lee Congdon is professor emeritus of history at James Madison University and the author of six previous books, including George Kennan and Seeing Red.