Artists, Writers, and Diplomats’ Wives

Variously seeking amusement, adventure, patronage, enlightenment and truth, Cherpak’s women travelers bring the Russian Empire back to life in fascinating detail. They reveal the sublimity and ghastliness of Russia in epochal times, and also their own hopes and dreams, prejudices and fears. Artists, Writers, and Diplomats’ Wives is engrossing and informative, for students, scholars, and general readers. -- Roxanne Easley, Central Washington University
This well-chosen and diverse collection of letters and memoirs offers vivid descriptions of Russia customs, politics, and personalities, from tsars and courtiers to peasants and Bolsheviks. The women’s writings express both fascination and condescension toward Russia and Russians, identifying them as fundamentally different from the West. -- Adele Lindenmeyr, Villanova University
A very useful addition to the accessible historical record. Evelyn Cherpak has collected eyewitness accounts of Russia by foreign visitors, from the late eighteenth century reign of Catherine the Great to the mid twentieth century rule of Joseph Stalin. Ranging from the observations of a princess to the revolutionary anarchist Emma Goldman, these excerpts provide a rich, detailed series of vignettes which provide distinct insights into Russian and Soviet society. -- Rochelle Goldberg Ruthchild, research associate at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University