Synopses & Reviews
The memoirs of Ernest Forssgren (1894and#150;1970), the young Swede who served as Marcel Proustand#8217;s last valet, provide new insights into Proustand#8217;s life and death. Previously, Forssgrenand#8217;s memoir has been published only in excerpts, in French, with serious omissions and alterations.and#160;
and#160;This book presents the complete text of the memoir, with an introduction and helpful annotations by the distinguished Proust scholar William C. Carter. Also included here is other new material: the inscriptions that Proust wrote for Forssgrenand#8217;s copy of Swannand#8217;s Way; an important telegram that Proust sent Forssgren, which defines with greater precision the novelistand#8217;s activities in the final months of his life; Forssgrenand#8217;s and#147;Summaryand#8221; of the first English biography of Proust, by George D. Painter, which provides many new details about Proustand#8217;s last trip to Cabourg in 1914 and his attempts at seducing young men of the servant class; and the notes that Forssgren made in his copy of Painterand#8217;s biography.
Review
"To have this memoir and the ancillary materials made available is important for Proust scholarship, and of considerable interest for a general public endlessly fascinated by Proust. It should also attract those interested in American immigrant history and sociology, and those who enjoy variations of the 'Upstairs-Downstairs' theme."and#8212;Katherine Kolb, Southeastern Louisiana University
Synopsis
This original analysis of the workings of Soviet state security organs under Lenin and Stalin addresses a series of questions that have long resisted satisfactory answers. Why did political repression affect so many people, most of them ordinary citizens? Why did repression come in waves or cycles? Why were economic and petty crimes regarded as political crimes? What was the reason for relying on extra-judicial tribunals? And what motivated the extreme harshness of punishments, including the widespread use of the death penalty? Through an approach that synthesizes history and economics, Paul Gregory develops systematic explanations for the way terror was applied, how terror agents were recruited, how they carried out their jobs, and how they were motivated. The book draws on extensive, recently opened archives of the Gulag administration, the Politburo, and state security agencies themselves to illuminate in new ways terror and repression in the Soviet Union as well as dictatorships in other times and places.
About the Author
William C. Carter is Distinguished Professor of French at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the author of two other books published by Yale University Press,
Proust in Love and
Marcel Proust: A Life, which was named a
New York Times Notable Book in 2000.