After the Romanovs : Russian exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque through revolution and war / Helen Rappaport.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rappaport, Helen, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Russians.

History.

Exiles.

Political refugees.

Social conditions.

Intellectual life.

Manners and customs.

Paris (France)--Intellectual life--20th century.

Paris (France).

France--Paris.

Russians--France--Paris--Social life and customs--20th century.

Russians--France--Paris--Intellectual life--20th century.

Russians--France--Paris--Social conditions--20th century.

Political refugees--France--Paris--History--20th century.

Exiles--France--Paris--History--20th century.

Russians--France--Paris--History--20th century.

Russians--Intellectual life.

Russians--Social conditions.

Russians--Social life and customs.

Genre:

History.

Endpapers (Binding)

Physical Description:

xvi, 317 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : St. Martin's Press, 2022.

Summary:

"From Helen Rappaport, the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanov Sisters comes After the Romanovs, the story of the Russian aristocrats, artists, and intellectuals who sought freedom and refuge in the City of Light. Paris has always been a city of cultural excellence, fine wine and food and the latest fashions. But it has also been a place of refuge for those fleeing persecution, never more so than before and after the Russian Revolution and the fall of the Romanov dynasty. For years, Russian aristocrats had enjoyed all Belle Epoque Paris had to offer, spending lavishly when they visited. It was a place of artistic experimentation such as Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. But the brutality of the Bolshevik takeover forced Russians of all types to flee their homeland, sometimes leaving with only the clothes on their backs. Arriving in Paris, former princes could be seen driving taxicabs, while their wives who could sew worked for the fashion houses, their unique Russian style serving as inspiration for designers like Coco Chanel. Talented intellectuals, artists, poets, philosophers and writers struggled in exile, eking out a living at menial jobs. Some, like Bunin, Chagall and Stravinsky, encountered great success in the same Paris that welcomed Americans like Fitzgerald and Hemingway. Political activists sought to overthrow the Bolshevik regime from afar, while double agents plotted espionage and assassination from both sides. Others became trapped in a cycle of poverty and their all-consuming homesickness for Russia, the homeland they had been forced to abandon. This is their story"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Russians in Paris: Cast of characters

La Tournée des Grands Ducs

"We really did stagger the world"

"Paris taught me, enriched me, beggared me, put me on my feet"

"We had outlived our epoch and were doomed"

"I never thought I would have to drag out my life as an émigré"

"Paris is full of Russians"

"How ruined Russians earn a living"

"We are not in exile, we are on a mission"

Emperor Kirill of all the Russias

"Ubiquitous intriguers," spies, and assassins

"A far violin among near balalaikas"

"I forever pity the exile, a prisoner, an invalid".

Notes:

Maps used as endpapers.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-308) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Beardwood Fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9781250273109

1250273102

OCLC:

1246141329