The Thaw Generation: Coming of Age in the Post-Stalin Era

by Lyudmila Alexeyeva

Book Overview

The Thaw Generation offers an insider's look at the Soviet dissident movement--the intellectuals who, during the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras, dared to challenge an oppressive system and demand the rights guaranteed by the Soviet constitution.& Fired from their jobs, hunted by the KGB, "tried, " and imprisoned, Alexeyeva and other activists including Andrei Sakharov, Yuri Orlov, Yuli Daniel, and Andrei Sinyavsky, through their dedication and their...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316031461
• ISBN13: 9780316031462
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 339 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An Important Window Into the Past.

Alexeyeva has done a marvelous job of combining personal tales with Soviet political history in this fascinating collection of memoirs. The result is an unexpected page-turner that provides a solid overview of myriad dissident movements from the days of the Decemberists to Gorbachev's Russia. The story follows Ludmilla Alexeyeva from her childhood, in which she believed she lived in the greatest country of all time. It is clear from the first few pages that Alexeyeva intended to invoke her private life only when it could feasibly add to the reader's comprehension of the historical events and movements being discussed. Alexeyeva the activist is openly presented, while Alexeyeva the person is shrouded in mystery. I found myself wondering if the two characters had become indistinguishable from one another. Although the sheer number of characters mentioned in passing and centered upon is startling, many brief summaries are provided to jog the reader's memory, and the index is thorough. I found the text slightly disjointed, but not excessively so. Overall, this is an effective introduction for novices in the study of the Soviet dissident movement from about 1956 to about 1975, and a good summary for those with expertise in that area.

Great reading

Explains the why and how of the Russian dissident movement after Stalin's death, focusing on Alexeyeva's personal involvement. It combines the beauty of Russian memoir with light political analysis--all without the awkwardness of translation, thanks to co-author Paul Goldberg's excellent prose style. A must for any amateur historian of this period/people.