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Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century
- Author
- Alexandra Popoff
- Narrator
- Stefan Rudnicki
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 26 March 2019
- Run Time
- 15 hours 45 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Biography: writers
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
What to expect
If Vasily Grossman’s 1961 masterpiece, Life and Fate, had been published during his lifetime, it would have reached the world together with Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago and before Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag. But Life and Fate was seized by the Russian KGB. When it emerged posthumously, decades later, it was recognized as the War and Peace of the twentieth century. Always at the epicenter of events, Grossman (1905–1964) was among the first to describe the Holocaust and the Ukrainian famine. His 1944 article “The Hell of Treblinka” became evidence at the Nuremberg trials. Grossman’s powerful antitotalitarian works liken the Nazis’ crimes against humanity with those of Stalin.
We are only now able to examine Grossman’s prose, which has the everlasting quality of great art, as well as his life and legacy, which Popoff’s authoritative biography illuminates.
Critics Review
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“Gripping…As told by Popoff, the stories behind Grossman’s stories, particularly of censors’ efforts to alter and limit them, are fascinating.”
New York Times
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“[Popoff] tells Grossman’s story with sensitivity and a keen understanding of his world, drawing on little-known archival collections to produce what must be considered the definitive biography.”
Wall Street Journal
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“Popoff’s biography is crisp and comprehensive, deftly interweaving Grossman’s personal life with the momentous events he experienced.”
Financial Times (London)
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“Provides not only the best look yet at this great author’s working life but also a stirring study of one man’s lifelong fight against totalitarian rule.”
Christian Science Monitor
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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“Striking…clear and well-structured.”
Spectator (London)
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“Stefan Rudnicki narrates this account…His deep pitch, enunciation, and inflections are clear, and he moves at a pace that is easy to follow.”
AudioFile
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“A fine biography of Soviet dissident writer Vasily Grossman…This well-researched portrait should introduce many new readers to a significant writer whose stand against totalitarian ideology, as Popoff’s epilogue on Putin’s veneration of Stalin demonstrates, has taken on new relevance and urgency today.”
Publishers Weekly
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“A harrowing tale of cruelty and courage…An unforgettable portrait of one brave soul’s triumph over a soulless state.”
Michael Shelden, author of Young Titan
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
-
5.0 5.0
This is a superb biography of one of the 20th Century's greatest and most important writers and is beautifully read. It has inspired me to explore Grossman's further.
chrisbyrd 2025-03-26
Details
- Author
- Alexandra Popoff
- Narrator
- Stefan Rudnicki
- Duration
- 15 hours 45 minutes
- Release Date
- 26 March 2019
- ISBN
- 9781538428566
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Biography: writers
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
If Vasily Grossman’s 1961 masterpiece, Life and Fate, had been published during his lifetime, it would have reached the world together with Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago and before Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag. But Life and Fate was seized by the Russian KGB. When it emerged posthumously, decades later, it was recognized as the War and Peace of the twentieth century. Always at the epicenter of events, Grossman (1905–1964) was among the first to describe the Holocaust and the Ukrainian famine. His 1944 article “The Hell of Treblinka” became evidence at the Nuremberg trials. Grossman’s powerful antitotalitarian works liken the Nazis’ crimes against humanity with those of Stalin.We are only now able to examine Grossman’s prose, which has the everlasting quality of great art, as well as his life and legacy, which Popoff’s authoritative biography illuminates.
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