{"product_id":"book-d8z4","title":"Stalin's Scribe","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA masterful and definitive biography of one of the most misunderstood and controversial writers in Russian literature\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMikhail Sholokhov is arguably one of the most contentious recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature. As a young man, Sholokhov's epic novel, \u003ci\u003eQuiet Don\u003c\/i\u003e, became an unprecedented overnight success.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eStalin's Scribe\u003c\/i\u003e is the first biography of a man who was once one of the Soviet Union's most prominent political figures.  Thanks to the opening of Russia's archives, Brian Boeck discovers that Sholokhov's official Soviet biography is actually a tangled web of legends, half-truths, and contradictions. Boeck examines the complex connection between an author and a dictator, revealing how a Stalinist courtier became an ideological acrobat and consummate politician in order to stay in favor and remain relevant after the dictator's death.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eStalin's Scribe\u003c\/i\u003e is remarkable biography that both reinforces and clashes with our understanding of the Soviet system. It reveals a Sholokhov who is bold, uncompromising, and sympathetic―and reconciles him with the vindictive and mean-spirited man described in so many accounts of late Soviet history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShockingly, at the height of the terror, which claimed over a million lives, Sholokhov became a member of the most minuscule subset of the Soviet Union's population―the handful of individuals whom Stalin personally intervened to save.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blackstone Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49293478035760,"sku":"BDd8z4","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":49293478068528,"sku":"ZEd8z4","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio MP3-CD","offer_id":49293478101296,"sku":"ZMd8z4","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/d8z4-Square-cover.jpg?v=1775874261","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-d8z4","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}