Alexander Herzen, „Past and Thoughts: An Annotated Critical Edition“ (translated by Kathleen F. Parthé, edited and translated by Robert N. Harris)
An annotated translation of Alexander Herzen’s monumental memoir Past and Thoughts—the first new English-language edition in a century—captures the tumultuous life and penetrating cultural and political insights of the writer widely regarded as the founder of Russian socialism.
Isaiah Berlin called Alexander Herzen’s magnum opus, Past and Thoughts, “a literary masterpiece worthy to be placed by the side of the novels of . . . Tolstoy, Turgenev, Dostoevsky.” It was the most influential memoir published in nineteenth-century Russia, and its impact extended far beyond the tsarist era and the empire’s borders, inspiring generations of thinkers, leaders, and dissidents struggling against authoritarian regimes. The first English-language translation in a century, thoroughly annotated with a new introduction, this volume shows why Past and Thoughts is considered a great classic.
Against a dramatic backdrop of war, revolution, and exile, Herzen tells a stirring story of political agitation, marital scandal, betrayal, and despair. Past and Thoughts begins with Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow during Herzen’s infancy, then follows the author’s central role in Russia’s emerging intelligentsia, his imprisonment and exile in the frozen north, his adventures across a mid-century Europe undergoing the turbulence of revolution and unification, and his founding of the first uncensored Russian-language press. We see the Paris revolts of 1848 and the flamboyant swashbucklers of Italy’s Risorgimento through Herzen’s sharp eyes, alongside his bold journalism, which reached both the tsar’s prisoners and the Winter Palace.
This edition restores a key section on the tragic denouement of Herzen’s marriage—omitted from previous abridged versions—and includes notes offering critical insight into Herzen’s historical sketches, travelogues, satire, poetry, philosophical excursions, and polemics. Tolstoy remarked that “Herzen awaits his readers in the future.” A piercing investigation of the human spirit and its enemies, Past and Thoughts is indeed a work for our time.
Reviews
„Past and Thoughts is perhaps the greatest autobiography in Russian literature, a classic worth placing in company with Turgenev, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy. This new translation captures, as never before, Herzen’s anecdotal brilliance, wit, and inimitable essayistic style, with its layers of irony on irony.“ – Gary Saul Morson, Northwestern University
„This magnificent exercise in self-writing founded the art of political witnessing for nineteenth-century Russia. At last, Herzen’s acclaimed mega-text receives the critical English edition it deserves, expertly pruning out and eloquently filling in this world for today’s readers.“ – Caryl Emerson, Princeton University
About the Authors
Robert N. Harris specializes in nineteenth-century Russian intellectual history at the University of Oxford. He has lectured at numerous universities, including Barcelona, Cambridge, and LMU Munich.
Kathleen F. Parthé is Professor Emeritus of Russian at the University of Rochester. She is the author of A Herzen Reader, Russian Village Prose, and, with James H. Billington, The Search for a New Russian National Identity.
416 pages/ Harvard University Press
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674495104