Letters from Russia

It's hard to believe that an individual could visit a country for only three months and exit with not only a precise appraisal of the culture, but accurate and prophetic advice to the world about that country as well. The Marquis de Custine was just such a person. The French Marquis made his journey to Russia in 1839 at a time when it was being ruled by a particularly despotic Tsar: Nicholas I. (You can read all about him in: Nicholas I: Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias.) The Marquis went in with an agenda of sorts which was to acquire justification for monarchial rule, as France had recently undergone much upheaval over this issue, (and there was much more to come in 1848!) When he eventually "escaped" from Russia, the Marquis had completely reversed his sanguine views on the benefits of living under the reign of a monarch. George W. Bush would have been well-served to have had the Marquis de Custine at his side when he, "...looked into Vladimir Putin's soul." The Marquis would have provided the U.S. President with a far superior assessment than the one which Bush took away from the experience... and that is the genius of both The Marquis's perceptiveness of human thought and behavior, as well as of his notable power with a pen. Even his most casual comments seem astonishing today, considering that they were made in 1839 -- here is but one of many examples: "Either the civilized world will, before fifty years have passed, fall again under the yoke of the [Russian] barbarians, or Russia will undergo a revolution more terrible than the revolution [1789-1799] whose effects are still felt in Western Europe." (Page 71.) Well, the Marquis missed the mark by a mere 30 years because the Bolsheviks (Communists) effected their horrific revolution, beginning in 1917, completing the job by the following year. I have read all the major Russian literature and have studied Russian culture for many years and I'm compelled to say that, subsequent to his brief visit, the Marquis was able to encapsulate not only how Russian culture came to level out but additionally WHY oppression of the masses by despots was endured by the people there for so many hundreds of years. There are a few factual mistakes in the book, (e.g., the myth about Prince Potemkin having "painted fake cities" along a river tour to please the Tsarina Catherine [II] the Great on her tour of the region), and The Marquis tended to paint people with a broad brush. He also envisioned the solution to the "Russian barbarianism problem" via the possible supplanting of the Greek Orthodox faith by the Universal Catholic Church! Still, the Marquis somehow managed to capture the essence of Russian culture of the period and for many decades to come in this remarkable 240-page journal. If the work has a flaw it is perhaps the ad nauseum emphasis on four or five negative aspects of Russian society, particularly as it concerns the appalling and gruesome hubris of the various tsars. I suspect that th

Yes, Custine's writing is swarming with stereotypes, unverified reports, and exclamations stemming from ignorance. But, the virtue of this book is not in the quality of its writing or the accuracy of its portrayal of Russia under Nicolaus I. Together with all of its faults, this book is a historical artifact, a part of history and not the retelling of it. When it is read with this in mind, Custine's account is compelling, funny, surprising to anyone who is at least roughly familiar with 19th century Russia. Not to mention that it is one of the rare published primary sources about the subject that can be read and enjoyed by a non-historian.

This is one of the most readable of the historical travelogs I've encountered. The prose is fresh, and the attitude contemporary. It comes with a Forward by Daniel Boorstin and an Introduction by George F. Kennan. The descriptions of entering the country, St. Petersburg, roads and traveling on them (treatment of horses, skill and attitude of drivers), the portraits of the overly polite short fused aristocracy and the many interesting conversations are very good. There are great descriptions of countryside, the architecture, the market at Ninjni, the plight of the peasants, and the continual plague of insects. There are ruminations on Russian history and comparisons of Russian and French culture, ethics and well being. The best, though is the author's take on the effects of the autocracy, and how the despotic attitude trickles down. For all his refined manners, the czar meets out swift, frequent and severe punishment. (Siberia and/or torture) and through his auspices, aristocrats and officials feel entitled to perform acts of great cruelty as well. Because those who are not being punished live in fear that they will be, Custine calls the Czar the jailer of !/3 of the world. One drawback of this book is that Custine repeats his analysis on the trickle down effects of the czar's power over and over again. The book is long, and about 200 pages are devoted to this very well thought out but overstated thesis. Another drawback for me was that while he did not stay long in Moscow, I would have liked more description of it.

"Letters from Russia" is a remarkable travelogue by Adolphe De Custine - a somewhat haughty Frenchman - who travelled to Imperial Russia in the middle of the 19th century. De Custine himself was the descendant of aristocrats - his father and grandfather were both executed during the Terror in the aftermath of the French Revolution. De Custine was certainly convinced of the superiority of the aristocracy and Catholicism but was not taken with the Russian incarnation of these institutions. What makes this book so interesting is De Custine's incredibly perceptive comment on the Russian psyche, which so easily explains how Russia could move from the tyranny of the all-knowing, all-powerful Tsar to the totalitarianism of the Communist regime. De Custine writes in a florid, sentimental style, typical of the age, which makes this long book somewhat heavy going. However, there are plenty of zingers along the way and many beautiful descriptions of the Russian landscape to keep the reader entertained. Probably not recommended to the average reader, but for students of Russian history this is certainly a "must-read".

The great classic work of Imperial Russia from a French Aristocrat who ultimately finds Russian Autocracy too much to take. Wordy, opinionated, and not very in depth, an essayist after the French style, Custine's letters are nevertheless invaluable to a student of Russia history or anyone who simply wants to understand imperial Russia. His description of St. Petersburg and Moscow, his personal meeting with Tsar Nicholas I, make it well worth it. While I don't agree with the idea that the Soviet period was simply an extension of Tsarist Russia, one nevertheless gets an idea of what Russia under Nicholas was like, and how the Revolutionaries gained a hearing in this atmosphere. Most importantly, its small enough to curl up in bed with!