"The Russian question" at the end of the twentieth century

On the occasion of his return to the country from which he was expelled twenty years ago, Russia's greatest living writer gives us a succinct and impassioned impression of his beliefs and hopes for his homeland. Beginning with an overview of the last five hundred years of Russian history, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn highlights his country's accomplishments and mistakes, analyzing the disaster of the Soviet years and painting a brutally vivid picture of the current state of affairs. Although he sees Russia in moral, economic, and social disarray, he also sees the possibility of a way out for a new generation who, with a renewed understanding of their history, can surmount the obstacles of the day and create a just and independent society - a Russian future. Provocative, spirited, and timely, The Russian Question speaks not only to Russians, whose destiny Solzhenitsyn has returned to share, but also to the Western world that received him in exile, awarded him a Nobel Prize in Literature, and made him one of the most widely read writers of our time.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction, Philosophy. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.