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A review by aislingoh
Former People: The Last Days of the Russian Aristocracy by Douglas Smith
4.0
I found this book really riveting and couldn't put it down. This is a rare quality for a history book while they are usually interesting but not this well writen. The combination of the general history and the individual stories keeps it interesting. Although there are far too many characters to keep track of. This is an area which has been ignored, there has not really been a focus on this class of people who disappeared from Russia.
There is a definite bias towards the aristocracy in the book. It is highlighted how educated they are and how all the great writers and composers came from that class. Well of course they did, if you were an illiterate peasant toiling in the fields for your master you are not going to get much of an opportunity to use your talents even if you have them.
I didn't think that I had a much sympathy for the people in the book as other reviews, however the reason is not due to heartlessness (I hope) its due to the sheer numbers of characters. If I have one criticism of the book it is that there were too many and it was hard to keep track of who was being mentioned. Maybe if he had picked a smaller number and focused more on them I would have felt more sympathy for them. By the second half of the book I was loosing interest in remembering the story of each person and just took each anecdote in its own right. I couldn't remember who this person was who was being arrested or that person being shot. Although obviously the stories are saddening, there were many people who suffered in the great terror of the 30's and this has been widely documented, to increase interest a few stories would have been much more effective.
Obviously the treatment they received was not deserved but having read so much about what the ordinary people suffered it is hard to feel sympathy for those who were so incredibly rich before the revolution knowing the level of the poverty in Russia at the time. In no way am I excusing what went on but in some cases it explains the excess. Serfdom was not abolished long and this was slavery in exactly the same way as it was in other areas of the world. These people were only a couple of generations from that and lived in an incredible level of poverty while the aristocracy were living lives of huge riches from the rents the poor were paying for them. A bit more balance and context is needed.
So while there are criticisms of this book its a great read on a newish subject so 4 stars for me.
There is a definite bias towards the aristocracy in the book. It is highlighted how educated they are and how all the great writers and composers came from that class. Well of course they did, if you were an illiterate peasant toiling in the fields for your master you are not going to get much of an opportunity to use your talents even if you have them.
I didn't think that I had a much sympathy for the people in the book as other reviews, however the reason is not due to heartlessness (I hope) its due to the sheer numbers of characters. If I have one criticism of the book it is that there were too many and it was hard to keep track of who was being mentioned. Maybe if he had picked a smaller number and focused more on them I would have felt more sympathy for them. By the second half of the book I was loosing interest in remembering the story of each person and just took each anecdote in its own right. I couldn't remember who this person was who was being arrested or that person being shot. Although obviously the stories are saddening, there were many people who suffered in the great terror of the 30's and this has been widely documented, to increase interest a few stories would have been much more effective.
Obviously the treatment they received was not deserved but having read so much about what the ordinary people suffered it is hard to feel sympathy for those who were so incredibly rich before the revolution knowing the level of the poverty in Russia at the time. In no way am I excusing what went on but in some cases it explains the excess. Serfdom was not abolished long and this was slavery in exactly the same way as it was in other areas of the world. These people were only a couple of generations from that and lived in an incredible level of poverty while the aristocracy were living lives of huge riches from the rents the poor were paying for them. A bit more balance and context is needed.
So while there are criticisms of this book its a great read on a newish subject so 4 stars for me.