Field Notes on Democracy

To Alexei Tolstoy (1883-1945) history, in addition to an artistic theme, was also a means of studying life. The novel “Peter the Great” was preceded by various works on this theme (Peters Day, On the Rack) which depict the formative stages of the authors conception of history. Tolstoy published the first part of the novel in 1929, the second in 1934, working on the third part until the day of his death, yet leaving it unfinished.The novel is dynamic. It shows the epoch and Peter himself, a true national hero of Russia and creator of the Russian state, in all their magnificence and multiplicity, in all their contradictions. The author describes the transformation of Russia into a mighty power. The novel is imbued with pride for Russia and faith in the Russian people. This profoundly realistic work has greatly influenced Soviet writers working in the field of history. Tolstoy won the Stalin Prize for this novel.

This groundbreaking volume may well be the poetry anthology for the global village. As selected by J.D. McClatchy, this collection includes masterpieces from four continents and more than two dozen languages in translations by such distinguished poets as Elizabeth Bishop, W.S. Merwin, Ted Hughes, and Seamus Heaney. Among the countries and writers represented are: Bangladesh–Taslima Nasrin Chile–Pablo Neruda China–Bei Dao, Shu Ting El Salvador–Claribel Alegria France–Yves Bonnefoy Greece–Odysseus Elytis, Yannis Ritsos India–A.K. Ramanujan Israel–Yehuda Amichai Japan–Shuntaro Tanikawa Mexico–Octavio Paz Nicaragua–Ernesto Cardenal Nigeria–Wole Soyinka Norway–Tomas Transtromer Palestine–Mahmoud Darwish Poland–Zbigniew Herbert, Czeslaw Milosz Russia–Joseph Brodsky, Yevgeny Yevtushenko Senegal–Leopold Sedar Senghor South Africa–Breyten Breytenbach St. Lucia, West Indies–Derek Walcott