Title Solovki : the story of Russia told through its most remarkable islands / Roy R. Robson

Published New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press, ©2004

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Description 1 online resource (xvi, 302 pages) : illustrations, maps Contents Stones -- Saints -- Prosperity -- Struggle -- Guardian -- Triumph -- Defiance -- Rebellion -- Emperor -- Prison -- Reform -- War -- Pilgrims -- Revolutions -- Gulag -- Life -- Denouement Summary The tragedies and triumphs of the Russian past are viewed through the lens of isolated islands that served as both monastery and Gulag camp. Located in the northernmost reaches of Russia, the islands of Solovki are among the most remote in the world. And yet from the Bronze Age through the twentieth century, the islands have attracted an astonishing cast of saints and scoundrels, soldiers and politicians. The site of a beautiful medieval monastery--once home to one of the greatest libraries of eastern Europe--Solovki became in the twentieth century a notorious labor camp. Roy Robson recounts the history of Solovki from its first settlers through the present day, as the history of Russia plays out on this miniature stage. In the 1600s, the piety and prosperity of Solovki turned to religious rebellion, siege, and massacre. Peter the Great then used it as a prison. But Solovki's glory was renewed in the nineteenth century as it became a major pilgrimage site--only to descend again into horror when the islands became, in the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the "mother of the Gulag" system. From its first intrepid visitors through the blood-soaked twentieth century, Solovki--like Russia itself--has been a site of both glorious achievement and profound misery Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-289) and index Notes Print version record Subject Solovet︠s︡kiĭ monastyrʹ -- History Solovet︠s︡kiĭ lagerʹ osobogo naznachenii︠a︡ -- History SUBJECT Solovet︠s︡kiĭ lagerʹ osobogo naznachenii︠a︡ fast Solovet︠s︡kiĭ monastyrʹ fast Subject HISTORY. HISTORY -- Europe -- Russia & the Former Soviet Union. SUBJECT Solovetski Islands (Russia) -- History Subject Russia (Federation) -- Solovetski Islands Russland Solowezkiinseln Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780300129601 0300129602 9780300102703 0300102704

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