The Culture of Samizdat

Reviews / Votes

The Culture of Samizdat is the book that every student and scholar of modern Russian culture must have in her or his library. Josephine von Zitzewitz has written a concise, energetic and highly informative survey of the late Soviet literary underground. Based on the author's original interviews with actual participants of the samizdat movement (with a special attention paid to such underappreciated heroes as typists), the book blends the analysis of various aspects of samizdat production and dissemination with deep insights into the functioning of nonconformist literary groups and circles that samizdat cemented. * Mark Lipovetsky, Professor of Russian, Columbia University, USA * Based on numerous interviews and memoirs and focusing on the various people and institutions which were charged with the difficult task of disseminating samizdat, this is the first monograph to vividly describe and analyze samizdat as a complex and integral part of Soviet life. As such, The Culture of Samizdat is absolutely indispensable for all scholars of late Soviet society. * Ilya Kukulin, Associate Professor of Cultural Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia * An indispensable addition to the canon of literature about Soviet literary life and production ... this book is beautifully written and can be read with pleasure and ease. * H-Soz-Kult * The Culture of Samizdat is a well-researched and innovative book that offers new questions not only for future historians or literary scholars but also for a general audience interested in the history of late Soviet Leningrad. * Europe-Asia Studies *