Fear And The Muse Kept Watch: The Russian Masters - from Akhmatova and Pasternak to Shostakovich and Eisenstein - Under Stalin

Description

Can great art be produced in a police state? Josef Stalin ran one of the most oppressive regimes in world history. Nevertheless, Stalinist Russia produced an outpouring of artistic works of immense power. More than a dozen great artists were visible enough for Stalin to take an interest in them - which meant he chose whether they were to live in luxury and be publicly honoured or to be sent to the Lubyanka for torture and execution. Journalist and novelist Andy McSmith brings together the stories of these artists, revealing how they pursued their art, often at great risk.

"McSmith writes journalist's history in the best sense, accounting for persons and events without resorting to theory, psychological or political. With clear-eyed restraint and unsentimental sympathy for the victims, he tells the story of Stalin's quarter-century effort, ended only by his death, to manage the greatest Russian artists of the time through intimidation, harassment, jailing, torture, and, when circumstances allowed, murder. . . . An invaluable contribution to serious popular history." -Booklist "The author has a deep affinity for these artists, and his portrayal of their struggles makes our appreciation of them even stronger. . . . Valuable." -Kirkus Reviews "Revelatory. . . . McSmith . . . has done a masterful job of researching and describing what it was like for writers, musicians and filmmakers to create under one of the most oppressive regimes in history. . . . Using extensive primary and secondary sources, McSmith reveals a remarkable story about art triumphing over evil." -Shelf Awareness