Monday, September 25, 2017

Book Notes: Stalin's Daughter by Rosemary Sullivan

There are several things which can make reading a biography a disappointing experience. The first is that despite the historic events surrounding the central character, he or she turns out to be rather dull. The second, is the opposite, where an author has profiled someone who might have been an unusual character but one who had the fortune to live through rather mundane times. The third hole into which many a biography has tripped, is simply of poor simplistic writing that merely lists events and never gets under the skin of the characters. Happily, Rosemary Sullivan's "Stalin's Daughter" is gloriously free from any of these three flaws. As such it makes terrific reading.

Svetlana Alliluyeva grew up in the Kremlin under the shadow of her all-powerful and toxically paranoid father, Joseph Stalin. Adored, manipulated, controlled, sometimes ignored and totally dominated by Stalin, Svetlana grew up in the strange world of the Purges, Show-trials, disappearances and insecurity of Stalin's Court. Enduring the suicide of her mother, and the personal crises of his henchmen as they rose and fell, the exile and executions from which her own household was not spared; as well as the national crises of WWII, each left their imprint on her young mind. Sullivan's book though estimates that it was the shadow of Stalin himself hanging over her which created the darkness which Svetlana never really outran. Despite chapter after chapter chronicling her tumultuous life, every episode seems to represent her trying some new scheme to reinvent herself; but still being seen by the world as 'Stalin's Daughter'. It is of course telling that the title of the biography is not "The extraordinary life of Svetlana Allilueyeva" (or even Lana Peters as she was subsequently known), but Stalin's Daughter.

Childhood, bereavement, marriages, motherhood, defection to the West, re-defection to the Soviet bloc, escape to the West, India, conversion to Russian Orthodox Christianity, friendships, writing, and her bizarre life at the Taliesin architects commune, under the dictatorship of Frank Lloyd-Wright's widow, Olgivanna; are all episodes in an extraordinary life. 

So here is a biography which is an exceptionally well-crafted examination, of a character who turns out to be immeasurably complex and interesting; but who wasn't on the run just from some personal demons; but on a a quest to free herself from one of the central forces of the twentieth century. Just as the spectre of Stalin haunted her, defined her - and especially defined how virtually everyone ever related to her; so the great battle between Capitalism and Marxism framed her experience. It is almost as though the Cold War itself flowed through her veins, just as the DNA of Joseph Stalin did. Sullivan's book is not short, but it is compelling. She seems to have gained unusual access to Soviet era friends, family and archives as well as people who knew her during her latter years in the West; making this an authoritative and informative read, not just another sensationalist write-up, the likes of which Svetlana was repeatedly exposed to during her tempestuous life.

If you are looking for a biography which is well written, highly readable, and paints a picture of a wildly unique character, living in the centre of hugely significant history, then Sullivan has provided the book you are looking for. 

Thursday, September 07, 2017

Book Notes: Return of a King by William Dalrymple

Having been deeply impressed by Dalrymple's "From the Holy Mountain", I was delighted to see his epic, "The Return of a King", in the massive second hand book sale in Edinburgh, run annually by Christian Aid. As an aside, I gather that the rather sedate-looking book-sale has been plagued by controversy of late. Apparently professional book-sellers have been accused of buying up the bargains, in order to re-sell them at higher prices elsewhere! If true, that is pretty shameless on the part of the book-traders, considering the good that Christian Aid do around the world, and the bargains that the public are being deprived of, from books which have been donated!

I settled down with this Dalrymple' volume on a long-haul flight this summer, and was transfixed by what I read; almost transported in fact, to another time, and place. This is historical writing at it's very best; a well-researched, beautifully written account of events which have huge resonance with the present time.

The book begins with an account of two feuding dynasties in Afghanistan in the early decades of the 19th Century, The Sadozais and The Barakzais. It then explores both British and Russian spying and intrigues in the region; as both jostled in the 'great game' for colonial dominance in India. With an eye for great character sketches, and an eye for detail, Dalrymple demonstrates how the British (Under the guise of the East India Company - the great Colonial Qango) were drawn into supporting Sadozai leader Shah Shuja, and helping to restore him to power in Kabul, with a supporting British invasion in 1842. In return the opposing Barakzais, and their leader Dost Mohammad, were able to unite the disparate groups in Afghanistan under the badge of Islam and jihad, to rally and radicalise against their enemies who ruled with British (ie. infidel) support. The disastrous defeat of the British invasion force, was a massive blow to the proud Imperial British, who acted to re-invade and inflict severe reprisals on the country, for what they saw as its defiant impudence!

What makes this book really live is the sparkling prose, with which Dalrymple delights the reader, and with which he is able to present great details and serious research, without getting bogged down. There's more than that though; it is also the character studies of people such as Dost Mohammad, Shah Shujah, Alexander Burnes, Robert Sale, Lady Sale, William Macnaughten and so many others, are also so well sketched and woven into the narrative, that the reader is instinctively hooked, fascinated and intrigued by their unfolding biographies. Additionally the numerous obvious parallels with the recent western invasion of Afghanistan are the reason Dalrymple went to Afghanistan to research this book in the first place. It seems the lessons the British were taught in 1842 were forgotten by the time Soviet Russia sought to conquer Afghanistan, and forgotten again even more swiftly in the post 9/11 invasion. Failures to plan for the post-conflict era, failures to equip troops properly, failures to understand the local ideology, failures to deal with the geography, failures to understand the complex inter-tribal politics, (and so forth), dogged the British invasion in 1842, exactly as the recent invasion was.

Even though it is now several weeks since I finished reading this book, there are scenes in it which I can still see in my mind; such is the clarity and power of Dalrymple's writing. It is quite simply an outstanding read. Perhaps another reason I so valued this book was that it opened up a whole area of unexplored history for me. There are certain areas of history which I have read a fair bit about (such as Victorian Society, American Civil Rights, Church History); but I am shockingly ignorant about the early stages of The British Empire in general, and about Afghanistan in particular. Dalrymple is a reliable, meticulous and hugely engaging guide to this still hugely relevant subject.

On the dust jacket there is a commendation for the book from Maya Jasanoff, who writes, "Dalrymple researches like a historian, thinks like an anthropologist and writes like a novelist". Too often, such commendations merely set the reader up for an anti-climactic disappointment with the actual contents of the book/ I think though, in this case, such astute praise is well deserved.