Books News
A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn
By M&C News
May 5, 2008, 15:49 GMT

The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn is the title of the new book by Solomon Volkov.

Translated by Antonina W. Bouis, the product description notes, “From the reign of Tsar Nicholas II to the brutal cult of Stalin to the ebullient, uncertain days of perestroika, nowhere has the inextricable relationship between politics and culture been more starkly illustrated than in twentieth-century Russia. In the first book to fully examine the intricate and often deadly interconnection between Russian rulers and Russian artists, cultural historian Solomon Volkov (who experienced firsthand many of the events he describes) brings to life the human stories behind some of
the greatest masterpieces of our time.”

The NYT provides not only a review, but also an excerpt which can be found here.

One of the points the article mentioned is, “…in 300 pages of thumb-nail sketches of artists, writers, musicians (Volkov is a musicologist by training) and filmmakers, as well as the dictators and secret police chiefs who hounded them, Volkov manages to leave out almost nothing. He has kept up with the latest developments in the historical record as they have emerged in memoirs and archives.”

Published by Knopf, the product description also notes, “Epic in scope and intimate in detail, The Magical Chorus is the definitive account of a remarkable era in Russia’s complex cultural life.”