Russian Album - Softcover

Ignatieff, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312281838 ISBN 13: 9780312281830

Publisher: Picador, 2001

Synopsis

Winner of the Royal Society of Literature Award

In The Russian Album, Michael Ignatieff chronicles five generations of his Russian family, beginning in 1815. Drawing on family diaries, on the contemplation of intriguing photographs in an old family album, and on stories passed down from father to son, he comes to terms with the meaning of his family's memories and histories. Focusing on his grandparents, Count Paul Ignatieff and Princess Natasha Mestchersky, he recreates their lives before, during, and after the Russian Revolution.

About this title

Review:

"A vividly fascinating account by a gifted writer who sweeps back the curtain from the past, revealing it full of color and life." --Suzanne Massie, The New York Times Book Review

"A rich story of a cultivated elite bound to a disintegrating autocracy." --Walter Goodman, The New York Times

"The Russian Album is a poignant family memoir, a fitting close to Russian life before the 'red curtain of the revolution.'" --Elena Brunet, Los Angeles Times

"A vivid, fascinating account by a gifted writer who sweeps back the curtain from the past, revealing it full of color and life." --New York Times

"Spellbinding...a family history, focusing on the author's grandparents who fled with their young sons from the Russian Revolution . . . But this is more than a family memoir. It's a meditation on rootlessness and belonging, and on the ambivalent feelings we all have about the lost past and about our forbears. Not to be missed." --Victoria Glendinning, Vogue

"An exemplary Russian performance." --Bruce Chatwin

"The Russian Album is a work of such evocative power that the story of one family will speak volumes to many." --Maclean's

"The Russian Album is a joy to read. Every sentence seems heartfelt. And the book as a whole is likely to captivate all who are interested in the question of roots." --Cleveland Plain Dealer

"This beautifully written book . . . is about tenderness, courage, and a sublime life-force." --The Observer (London)

About the Author:

Michael Ignatieff is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books, among other publications, and the author of many acclaimed books, including Blood and Belonging, Isaiah Berlin, Virtual War, The Warrior's Honor, The Needs of Strangers, and The Russian Album. He lives in London and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0312281838
• ISBN 13: 9780312281830
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240