Former People

"[An] excellent history . . . A sobering tale of the complexities of revolution, told with clarity and sympathy."--"The Independent" "Absorbing . . . How could one ever think that these people were monsters? They were gallant souls; and Smith's book memorialises them beautifully."--Mark Le Fanu, "Spear's" "Smith re-creates what [the Russian nobility] experienced with an intimacy that brings the whole history of these years vividly and grotesquely alive."--Robert Legvold, "Foreign Affairs" "Smith has performed a real service in drawing attention to this widely overlooked segment of the Russian population and the horrifying persecutions its members endured. His book inspires awe and pity in equal measure, and expands our understanding of a forgotten people. It's hard to believe that this it he first book of its kind devoted to the 10 percent of White Russians who remained in the society Union after the revolution and civil war and we can hope it will lead to others."--Michael Scammell, "The New York Review of Books""With urgency and precision, [Smith] chronicles the fate of the nobility from the dawn of the revolution . . . He is invested in their (former) cause, and narrates the events of their lives with passion . . . "Former People "is a thorough, extensively sourced history, and also something of a spiritual restitution."--Yelena Akhtiorskaya, "The New Republic""Although many of the aristocrats thought the end of their caste 'obvious and unavoidable, ' few foresaw the destruction of a way of life. Smith's engaging and, at times, heartbreaking account is an essential record of that loss."--"The New Yorker"""Former People" is ultimately an incredibly readable, vivid, emotional human story of survival, accommodation, and reconciliation."--Sean Guillory, "New Books Network""Engrossing . . . with richly detailed event and anecdote."--Liesl Schillinger, "The New York Times""An engaging and absorbing book."--Jennifer Siegel, "The Walle