The Russian Question: At the End of the Twentieth Century

Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenit︠s︡yn

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995 - History - 135 pages

On the occasion of his return to the country from which he was expelled twenty years ago, Russia's greatest living writer gives us a succinct and impassioned impression of his beliefs and hopes for his homeland. Beginning with an overview of the last five hundred years of Russian history, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn highlights his country's accomplishments and mistakes, analyzing the disaster of the Soviet years and painting a brutally vivid picture of the current state of affairs. Although he sees Russia in moral, economic, and social disarray, he also sees the possibility of a way out for a new generation who, with a renewed understanding of their history, can surmount the obstacles of the day and create a just and independent society - a Russian future. Provocative, spirited, and timely, The Russian Question speaks not only to Russians, whose destiny Solzhenitsyn has returned to share, but also to the Western world that received him in exile, awarded him a Nobel Prize in Literature, and made him one of the most widely read writers of our time.

About the author

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was born on December 11, 1918 in Kislovodsk in the northern Caucusus Mountains. He received a degree in physics and math from Rostov University in 1941. He served in the Russian army during World War II but was arrested in 1945 for writing a letter criticizing Stalin. He spent the next decade in prisons and labor camps and, later, exile, before being allowed to return to central Russia, where he worked as a high school science teacher. His first novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, was published in 1962. In 1970, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1974, he was arrested for treason and exiled following the publication of The Gulag Archipelago. He moved to Switzerland and later the U. S. where he continued to write fiction and history. When the Soviet Union collapsed, he returned to his homeland. His other works include The First Circle and The Cancer Ward. He died due to a heart ailment on August 3, 2008 at the age of 89.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Russian Question: At the End of the Twentieth Century
• Author: Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenit︠s︡yn
• Translated by: Yermolai Solzhenitsyn
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995
• ISBN: 0374252912, 9780374252915
• Length: 135 pages
• Subjects: History / General