{"product_id":"9781681778747-stalins-scribe-literature-ambition-and-survival-the-life-of-mikhail-sholokhov","title":"Stalin's Scribe: Literature, Ambition, and Survival: The Life of","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA masterful and definitive biography of one of the most misunderstood and controversial writers in Russian literature.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMikhail Sholokhov is arguably one of the most contentious recipients of the Nobel Prize in literature in history. As a young man, Sholokhov's epic novel, \u003ci\u003eQuiet Don\u003c\/i\u003e, became an unprecedented overnight success.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eStalin's Scribe\u003c\/i\u003e is the first biography of a man who was once one of the Soviet Union's most prominent political figures. Thanks to the opening of Russia's archives, Brian Boeck discovers that Sholokhov's official Soviet biography is actually a tangled web of legends, half-truths, and contradictions. Boeck examines the complex connection between an author and a dictator, revealing how a Stalinist courtier became an ideological acrobat and consummate politician in order to stay in favor and remain relevant after the dictator's death.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eStalin's Scribe\u003c\/i\u003e is remarkable biography that both reinforces and clashes with our understanding of the Soviet system. It reveals a Sholokhov who is bold, uncompromising, and sympathetic-and reconciles him with the vindictive and mean-spirited man described in so many accounts of late Soviet history.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Shockingly, at the height of the terror, which claimed over a million lives, Sholokhov became a member of the most minuscule subset of the Soviet Union's population-the handful of individuals whom Stalin personally intervened to save.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrian J. Boeck \u003c\/b\u003eholds a Ph.D. in Russian history from Harvard University and have taught Russian and Soviet history for over a decade at DePaul University. He is the author of\u003ci\u003e Imperial Boundaries\u003c\/i\u003e (Cambridge) and lives in Chicago, Illinois.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Grocer","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46565964316891,"sku":"9781681778747","price":25.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/b8039ffc48684d80b3bd334b7adefa7c.png?v=1741138729","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/9781681778747-stalins-scribe-literature-ambition-and-survival-the-life-of-mikhail-sholokhov","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}