The Philosophy Steamer: Lenin and the Exile of the Intelligensia

The Philosophy Steamer: Lenin and the Exile of the Intelligensia

by CHAMBERLAIN (Author)

Synopsis

'Compelling, laudably unsentimental and deeply significant.' -- Frances Stonar Saunders, Guardian

In 1922, Lenin personally drew up a list of some 220 'undesirable' intellectuals to be deported in preparation for the creation of the Soviet Union in December of that year. Two ships sailed from Petrograd that autumn, taking around 70 of these eminent men and their families away to what became permanent exile in Berlin, Prague and Paris. Using diaries, letters and memoirs, The Philosophy Steamer tells the story of the philosophers, writers, journalists and scholars thrown out of their homeland and forced to join emigre communities. It also explores the fate of ideas: not just those of Lenin, but also of the men who, though forced to leave their homeland, made unique contributions to the cultural and intellectual life of the twentieth century.

'Chamberlain movingly describes the experience of exile in ways that echo that great exile novelist Nabokov himself... a richly humane and complex book of enormous spiritual depth by a remarkably talented author.' -- Michael Burleigh, Sunday Telegraph

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 432
Edition: Main - Print on Demand
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Published: 10 May 2007

ISBN 10: 1843540932
ISBN 13: 9781843540939
Book Overview: 'Chamberlain movingly describes the experience of exile in ways that echo that great exile novelist Nabokov himself... a richly humane and complex book of enormous spiritual depth by a remarkably talented author.' Michael Burleigh, Sunday Telegraph

Media Reviews
A remarkable and painful cultural and political history. -- Allan Massie * Daily Telegraph *
Compelling, laudably unsentimental and deeply significant. -- Frances Stonar Saunders * Guardian *
Moving, deeply thoughtful... such a good book. -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *
Chamberlain vividly recreates the character and everyday life of a number of selfless, unworldly refugees in Berlin, Prague and Paris... Chamberlain's focus on the everyday experience of exile in the West, as well as her careful research, ensure that this study will not be superseded. -- Donald Rayfield * Literary Review *
Author Bio
Lesley Chamberlain is a writer and reviewer distinguished for her wide-ranging work from travel (In the Communist Mirror) to philosophy (Nietzsche in Turin). Her most recent book is Motherland: A Philosophical History of Russia.