The Stalin Epigram

The Stalin Epigram

by RobertLittell (Author)

Synopsis

Moscow, 1934. As thousands of peasant famers starve under Stalin's regime of collectivisation, Osip Mandelstam, perhaps the greatest Russian poet of the twentieth century, defies the Kremlin with a few short, audacious lines of verse - a searing indictment of Stalin secretly recited to a handful of friends and fellow artists. When a transcript of the work falls into the hands of the secret police, the poet is taken from his home to Lubyanka prison under accusations of counter-revolutionary activities that carry the highest penalty, and his fate - as well as the fates of those close to him - is cast into bleak uncertainty. A fictional portrait based on a riveting historical episode, The Stalin Epigram is narrated in turn by Mandelstam himself, his devoted wife and his great friends, the poets Boris Pasternak and Anna Akhmatova, amongst other vividly imagined characters. A gripping and memorable achievement of rigorous research and extraordinary empathy, bestselling author Robert Littell's latest novel is a compelling testament to human courage and endurance.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Publisher: Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd
Published: 09 May 2011

ISBN 10: 0715640739
ISBN 13: 9780715640739

Media Reviews
'A wonderful and compelling read about power, poetry, love, literature, terror and Russia.' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'Profoundly informed, incredibly suspenseful and heartbreaking.' Martin Cruz Smith
Author Bio
Robert Littell is the bestselling author of numerous works, including The Company, Vicious Circle and Legends, winner of the LA Times Book Award. A former Newsweek journalist, Littell is an American living in France.