Rate this book

Former People: The Final Days Of The Russian Aristocracy (2012)

by Douglas Smith(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0374157618 (ISBN13: 9780374157616)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

review 1: A well written and researched book with many interesting details about the lives of the Russian aristocracy after the revolution. The book was marred by the author's (admitted) pre-aristocracy bias. Now, I am not going to apologize for the excesses of the Bolsheviks, and even less so for Stalin, but Smith's bias is really rather silly. Just because one side was cruel and lawless, does not mean you have to admire the other. the people he asks us to like enslaved 80% of the Russian population and supported and were part of a horribly repressive regime. The bias shows consistently in his use of language: Tsars excuted: bolshevik's murdered. When the masses took the property that the rich had accumulated by the sweat of the peasants, this was robbery. etc Still desp... moreite these weakness a good book.
review 2: This was a wonderful book that provided a broad and encompassing overview of the fate of two major Russian noble families during and after the Bolshevik revolution. It is true that keeping track of the two sprawling family trees was at times somewhat challenging, but the summary material at the front was useful in this regard, and I never had the sense that I was bogged down in details - even though details were abundant. This is an impressive achievement and well-worth reading. less

Download links for: Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy

Advertising