Search Results: Slavic Literature:Émigré/Dissident Writers from ZH BOOKS

Paris: YMCA-Press, 1971. Hardcover. Near Fine. First Russian edition; 5 1/2" x 7 3/4"; pp. [8], 9-573 + 2 maps; original plain green cloth-over-boards; silvery title to spine; very minor wear (spine very slightly cocked forward, mostly very clean); near fine. 'August 1914' was the first book in the author's epic cycle 'The Red Wheel.' Solzhenitsyn was awarded The Nobel Price for Literature in 1970 and due to his controversial works - expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974. He began gathering materials for his current novel as early as the 1930s. In the aftermath of WWII, he was arrested for spreading derogatory comments about the conduct of the war and sentenced to a term in a labor camp. He eventually finished the manuscript in late 1970. The plot was centered on the defeat of Imperial Russia at the Battle of Tannenberg in East Prussia. Provenance: From the library of Simon Karlinsky - professor emeritus of Slavic languages and literature at UC Berkeley from 1964 to… Read More

Sofia: Durzhavno Voenno Izdatelstvo, 1962. Hardcover. Near Fine. First edition; 6" x 8"; pp. [6], 7-322, [2]; original dark orange boards with black and gilt decorations; pictorial DJ; full-page b & w illustrations; near fine with minor wear to corners; jacket in very good condition with small nicks along edges. In spite of being one of Bulgaria's most acclaimed and honored young authors of the 1960s, sadly, dissident writer Georgi Markov is best known in the West for his infamous murder by the Bulgarian Secret Police, with a poisonous pellet shot by an umbrella, in London in 1978. While still living and working in Bulgaria, Markov was a controversial figure - winning "The Annual Award of the Union of Bulgarian Writers" for his current work 'Men' and at the same time having most of his plays removed and banned from theater stages by the Communist censors. He was also famous for his lavish bohemian lifestyle, which was unknown to most Bulgarians at the time. A… Read More

Vashington: Literaturno-khudozhestvennyi Kruzhok v Kalifornii, 1965. Soft cover. Very Good. First edition; 6" x 8 1/4"; pp. [6], 5-242, [2]; original printed wraps; minor dust-dulling to covers; slight wear to head and tail of spine; very good or better. Signed/inscribed by Aleksandra L'vovna Tolstaia - the youngest daughter of Leo Tolstoy. While still young, she was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks in 1920. Later, in 1929, she left Russia and immigrated to the US where she established the Tolstoy Foundation (President Herbert Hoover was the first honorary chairman from 1939 to 1964). Under Aleksandra's leadership, the Foundation is known to have helped more than 500 000 people escape political persecution and resettle in the States, including notable names such as Vladimir Nabokov and Sergei Rachmaninoff.