The Russian Album

Reissue of this sweeping, poignant account of generations of the author's Russian family: a story of revolution, exile and the search for roots

'A vividly fascinating account by a gifted writer who sweeps back the curtain from the past, revealing it full of color and life.' New York Times Book Review

'This beautifully written book . . . is about tenderness, courage, and a sublime life-force' Observer

'A poignant family memoir, a fitting close to Russian life before the 'red curtain of the revolution'' LA Times

Poring over his grandparents' memoirs, grainy photographs of his distinguished ancestors and relating family lore passed from father to son, Michael Ignatieff begins a moving journey to come to terms with his inheritance that is bound up with the violent tumult of Russian history.

With great care and complexity, Ignatieff reconstructs a vanished way of life. Beginning in the opulent court of Catherine the Great, he traces his family's rise to great influence in the imperial regime of Tsar Nicholas II before the country is swept up in revolution, civil war and exile. A profound meditation on rootlessness and belonging, The Russian Album explores both how we are formed by our pasts, but also how we must write our own stories in the present.