Lenin's Private War

In LENIN'S PRIVATE WAR, Lesley Chamberlain tells the story of intellectuals, mostly philosophers, scientists, and journalists, deported by Lenin as Russia prepared for the creation of the Soviet Union. The book is a valuable exploration—based on the diaries, letters, and memoirs of those involved in this exile—of a threatening historical moment. In September 1922, about 25 families boarded a German ship, the Oberbürgermeister Haken, in a smooth and imperceptible operation carried out by Lenin's political police, the GPU. Six weeks later, roughly the same number of people departed on another ship, the Preussen. The deportees also included religious philosophers (Nikolai Berdyaev and Semion Frank), liberal economists (Boris Brutskus), writers and critics (Mikhail Osorgin and Yuli Aikhenvald), abstract artists, historians, mathematicians, and literary journalists. It is surprising to learn that this episode, which has been called "The Vapor of Philosophy," remains so little known. Even more surprising because it was Lenin himself, the leader of the Bolsheviks and founder of the Soviet Union, who conceived the deportation and personally chose the victims. To fill this gap, Lesley Chamberlain conducted extensive research that resulted in the magnificent LENIN'S PRIVATE WAR. The book begins with an overview of the world the banished were leaving behind, then moves on to a study of the political maneuvers that made the expulsions legally viable. It continues with an exploration of the new lives the banished built abroad in a difficult time, with Europe barely recovering from one war and already confronting another. The final section assesses what the expulsions meant in the context of Russian history and the history of ideas. More than a celebration of the theme of exile, LENIN'S PRIVATE WAR explores the ideas of these Russians, many of them unknown in the West, but who changed the aggressive materialism of the Bolsheviks and influenced, from other parts of the world, compatriots such as Joseph Brodski and Andrei Tarkovsky. A book that also tells the story of the fate of ideas: not only Lenin's, but also those of the men forced to leave their country and who contributed incredibly to the cultural and intellectual life of the 20th century. "Irresistible and stimulating." - The Independent "Chamberlain did a great job." - Kirkus Reviews "Erudite and engaging." - The Economist "Extremely significant for the history of ideas." - Guardian