About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherPegasus Books

ISBN-101605980668

ISBN-139781605980669

eBay Product ID (ePID)72714047

Product Key Features

Book TitleRed Princess : the Revolutionary Life, Love Affairs, and Adventures of Princess Sophy

Number of Pages368 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2009

TopicCultural Heritage, Royalty, Historical

IllustratorYes

GenreBiography & Autobiography

AuthorSofka Zinovieff

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height1 in

Item Weight16.6 Oz

Item Length8.7 in

Item Width5.7 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

ReviewsFascinating. . . . Red Princess delights on several levels: as a detective story, biography, family saga, with glimpses of high society in Russia and Britain, and vivid descriptions of the desperate struggles for survival of those swept up in the storms of twentieth century history. (Times Literary Supplement), Anyone reading about Sophy's sizzling charm, guts, and literary gifts can't help thinking it would have been fun to know her. (The Economist), No Hollywood fantasy is more exciting than this true story of a Russian princess in exile who becomes a bohemian, free lover and Communist. The power of this biography is in its historical breadth as well as Zinovieff's ability to conjure the specificity of time and place through Sofka's experiences of the 20th century's major political and culture events. A notable story told with élan and an eye for historical and social detail. ( Publishers Weekly ), In a thrilling new book, Sofka Zinovieff traces the extraordinary life of her grandmother, a daredevil Russian princess who criss-crossed Europe, falling in love and finding adventure wherever she went. (Sebastian Shakespeare, Harper's Bazaar), Princess Sophy Dolgorouky's life, wonderfully researched and movingly retold by her granddaughter, mirrors the horrors and convulsions of the past century. Funny, honest, searing, and tragic--a fascinating insight into a world where fate, war and human cruelty changed lives with a sudden, reckless indifference. (The Times [London]), No Hollywood fantasy is more exciting than this true story of a Russian princess in exile who becomes a bohemian, free lover and Communist. The power of this biography is in its historical breadth as well as Zinovieff's ability to conjure the specificity of time and place through Sofka's experiences of the 20th century's major political and culture events. A notable story told with lan and an eye for historical and social detail. (Publishers Weekly), No Hollywood fantasy is more exciting than this true story of a Russian princess in exile who becomes a bohemian, free lover and Communist. The power of this biography is in its historical breadth as well as Zinovieff's ability to conjure the specificity of time and place through Sofka's experiences of the 20th century's major political and culture events. A notable story told with élan and an eye for historical and social detail. (Publishers Weekly)

SynopsisBurning with shame, Sofka and her family fled to England and then to Paris, where Sofka quickly embraced the bohemian culture of the 1920s and 1930s. During the Nazi occupation, Sofka would leave her first husband only to lose her second. Interned in a Nazi prison camp, she worked with the French Resistance and discovered communism, whose cause she would ironically continue to uphold for the rest of her life, becoming an outspoken member of the British Communist party and even leading tour groups for workers visiting the Soviet Union. But what was even more outrageous in its day than her conversion from princess to communist was Sofka's private life. She not only believed in sexual freedom, but often placed love, literature, and adventure before even her own children. Sofka was much more than a princess in exile--she was someone whose existence was constantly dislocated by revolution, yet nonetheless believed in revolution as a way of making the world a better place., Born in 1907 in St. Petersburg, Princess Sophy "Sofka" Dolgorouky was born into a world of privilege and nobility--ten short years later, Sofka's world would crumble when the Tsar and his family were overthrown, exiled, and executed.Burning with shame, Sofka and her family fled to England and then to Paris, where Sofka quickly embraced the bohemian culture of the 1920s and 1930s. During the Nazi occupation, Sofka would leave her first husband only to lose her second. Interned in a Nazi prison camp, she worked with the French Resistance and discovered communism, whose cause she would ironically continue to uphold for the rest of her life, becoming an outspoken member of the British Communist party and even leading tour groups for workers visiting the Soviet Union.But what was even more outrageous in its day than her conversion from princess to communist was Sofka's private life. She not only believed in sexual freedom, but often placed love, literature, and adventure before even her own children. Sofka was much more than a princess in exile--she was someone whose existence was constantly dislocated by revolution, yet nonetheless believed in revolution as a way of making the world a better place.