Romantic Exiles

by Edward Harlett Carr

Overview

1847: the Russian writer Alexander Herzen and his family leave Moscow on a short-term permit, become embroiled in the revolution of 1848 in Paris and, unable to return to Tsarist Russia, are condemned to permanent exile. As they move from one European country to another, their lives are punctuated by romance, intrigue and adultery.

Through a series of perfectly executed pen portraits, Carr brings to life a fascinating group of liberal propagandists, exiled anarchists, dissident aristocrats and - inevitably - the occasional police spy, and their conspiratorial entanglements. He allows Herzen to take centre stage, although the actors themselves gave this honour to Mikhail Bakunin, 'the father of Russian anarchism' and the most charismatic figure in this extraordinary tale. This is also a story of financial skulduggery and personal tragedy for almost everyone involved as Romantic ideals - personal, political and philosophical - crumble in the face of the rise of nationalism across Europe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781897959558
Publisher:	Serif Publishing
Publication date:	04/28/2007
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	5.29(w) x 8.47(h) x 0.74(d)

Table of Contents

Preface     9
The Departure     11
The Promised Land     25
A Family Tragedy: I     43
A Family Tragedy: II     78
The Engelsons     108
First Years in London     119
Poor Nick: I     137
The Recurrent Triangle     164
The Great Quinquennium     179
Bakunin; or the Slippery Path     192
Poland; or the Cruise of the Ward Jackson     204
Herzen's Last Years     218
A Voltaircan among the Romantics     242
The Affaire Nechaev; or the First Terrorist     255
The Affaire Postnikov; or the Eternal Spy     274
Poor Nick: II     291
The Last Tragedy     306
Epilogue     320
Letter of Herwegh to Malwida von Meysenbug (1870)     325
Letter of Thomas Carlyle to Herzen (April 13th, 1855)     326
List of Addresses at which Herzen resided in London (1852-65)     328
Bedlam; or A Day of our Life     329
The Ward Jackson: Foreign Office Documents     337
Note on Sources     341