FRANK WESTERMAN

Frank Westerman draws the reader into the wild euphoria of the Russian Revolution, as art and reality are bent to redically new purposes. Writers of renown, described by Stalin as “engineers of the soul,” were encouraged to sing the praises of canal and dam construction under titles such as Energy; The Hydraulic Power Station; and Onward, Time! But their enthusiasm—spontaneous and idealistic at first—soon became an obligatory song of praise. And as these colossal waterworks led to slavery and destruction, Soviet writers were forced to labor on in the service of a deluded totalitarian society.

Combining investigative journalism with literary history, Engineers of the Soul is a journey through contemporary Russia and through Soviet-era literature. Westerman examines both the cultural landscape under Stalin’s rule and the books—and lives—of writers caught in the wheels of the system. On the dilemma of the Soviet writers, which he faced alongside contemporaries such as Maxim Gorky, Isaak Babel, and Boris Pasternak, novelist Konstantin Paustovsky wrote: “It is easy to die a hero’s death, but it is difficult to live a hero’s life.”

Engineers of the Soul sweeps the reader along to the dramatic dénouement: the final confrontation between writers and engineers that signaled the end of the Soviet empire.