The Russian Question: At the End of the Twentieth Century

by Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn

Release Date: November, 1994

Edition: Hardcover

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Great book on Russian history

Winner of the Nobel Prize for literature Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was born in Russia in 1918. He has experienced World War II, labor camp, internal exile, and expulsion from the Soviet Union. He spent 18 years in seclusion in rural Vermont. In this book he explores Russian history in search for answers for Russia's decline. This book was born and distilled through Solzhenitsyn's many years of experience of struggle with the Communist state and exile... In the same time he is not someone who just have an ax to grind, but rather a thinker who attained understanding to the question "Why?" or at least someone who knows where to look for answers...

Solzhenitsyn doesn't spare criticism to rulers of Russia starting with the biggest figure - Peter "the Great". He calls him "a man of mediocre if not savage mind" with appetite to the European grandeur, squandering national resources and wasting lives of Russian people. From Peter up until now it was "...three hundred year period ...of missed opportunities for internal development, and ruthless squander of national strength on the pursuit of external aims of no benefit to Russia: we troubled more about European "interests" than about our own people."

"The Russian Question" is an honest and thought-provoking book, written by someone who criticizes, but really loves Russia and her people. It would be a great book to read as a counterbalance to academic books on the subject. This is a real gem that shouldn't be overlooked by anyone interested in Russian history, philosophy and politics.

Infalliable

I thought that this was a provocative book dealing with all the issues and dealing with all the possible view points. A great look through a Russians eyes. Top Book. 5 stars duely earnt. I look foward to the next book!