Book

Smith, Douglas, 1962-

Former people : the final days of the Russian aristocracy / Douglas Smith.

First edition.

New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012.

©2012

xvii, 464 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Examines the fate of two Russian aristocratic families in a detailed account of the Bolshevik Revolution's effect on the upper class, discussing the relentless lootings, harrowing escapes, humbling exile and imprisonment, and summary executions that took place during this violent time of transition.

Sheremetev family -- History -- 20th century.

Golit︠s︡yn family -- History -- 20th century.

Aristocracy (Social class) -- Soviet Union.

Aristocracy (Social class) -- Russia -- History -- 20th century.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 416-435) and index.

Before the deluge. Russia, 1900 ; The Sheremetevs ; The Golitsyns ; The last dance -- 1917. The fall of the Romanovs ; A country of mutinous slaves ; The bolshevik coup -- Civil war. Expropriating the expropriators ; The corner house ; Spa town hall ; Bogoroditsk ; Doctor Golitsyn ; Exodus -- NEP. School of life ; Noble remains ; The foxtrot affair ; Virtue in rags -- Stalin's Russia. The great break ; The death of Parnassus ; Outcasts ; The mouse, the kerosene, and the match ; Anna's fortune ; Happy times ; Poisonous snakes and the avenging sword: operation "former people" ; The great terror ; War: the end.

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0374157618

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