Anna of All the Russias: A Life of Anna Akhmatova
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In this definitive biography of the legendary Russian poet, Elaine Feinstein draws on a wealth of newly available material–including memoirs, letters, journals, and interviews with surviving friends and family–to produce a revelatory portrait of both the artist and the woman.Anna Akhmatova rose to fame in the years before World War I, but she would pay a heavy price for the political and personal passions that informed her brilliant poetry. In Anna of All the Russias we see Akhmatova's work banned from 1925 until 1940 and again after World War II. We see her steadfast opposition to Stalin, even while her son was held in the Gulag. We see her abiding loyalty to such friends as Mandelstam, Shostakovich, and Pasternak as they faced Stalinist oppression. And we see how, through everything, Akhmatova continued to write, her poetry giving voice to the Russian people by whom she was, and still is, deeply loved. The Washington Post - Michael Dirda Feinstein has written a highly engaging biography of this great poet and determined woman, a fine companion volume to her previous life of Marina Tsvetaeva. It makes a superb introduction to Akhmatova and her world.
List of Illustration ixAcknowledgements xiNotes on the Text xvPreface xviiSt. Petersburg 1913 3Becoming Akhmatova 12Marriage to Gumilyov 30Petrograd 52Revolution 67In a Time of Famine 81Infidelities 102The House on the Fontanka 121The Vegetarian Years 1928-1933 130The Terror 1933-1938 144The Lamb 165War 186Peace 211The Thaw 236Last Years 260Aftermaths 278Epilogue 284Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva 287Notes 289Select Bibliography 309Index 317
