The Russian Album [Paperback]

Winner of the Royal Society of Literature Award

InThe Russian Album, Michael Ignatieff chronicles five generations of his Russian family, beginning in 1815. Drawing on family diaries, on the contemplation of intriguing photographs in an old family album, and on stories passed down from father to son, he comes to terms with the meaning of his family's memories and histories. Focusing on his grandparents, Count Paul Ignatieff and Princess Natasha Mestchersky, he recreates their lives before, during, and after the Russian Revolution.

A vividly fascinating account by a gifted writer who sweeps back the curtain from the past, revealing it full of color and life. Suzanne Massie, The New York Times Book Review

A rich story of a cultivated elite bound to a disintegrating autocracy. Walter Goodman, The New York Times

The Russian Albumis a poignant family memoir, a fitting close to Russian life before the 'red curtain of the revolution.' Elena Brunet, Los Angeles Times

A vivid, fascinating account by a gifted writer who sweeps back the curtain from the past, revealing it full of color and life. New York Times

Spellbinding...a family history, focusing on the author's grandparents who fled with their young sons from the Russian Revolution . . . But this is more than a family memoir. It's a meditation on rootlessness and belonging, and on the ambivalent feelings we all have about the lost past and about our forbears. Not to be missed. Victoria Glendinning, Vogue

An exemplary Russian performance. Bruce Chatwin

The Russian Albumis a work of such evocative power that the story of one family will speak volumes to many. Maclean's

The Russian Albumis a joy to read. Every sentence seems heartfelt. And the book as a whole is likely to captivate all who are interested in the question of roots. Cleveland Plain DealelS"