A Taste for Freedom

by Anka Muhlstein

***Library Journal*** A contemporary of Napoleon, Balzac, and Chateaubriand, Astolphe de Custine (1790-1857) achieved fame with his book *La Russie* en 1839. An unconventional aristocrat who managed to survive the French Revolution, Custine lived openly for most of his life with his partner, Edouard Sainte-Barbe, and wrote a series of unextraordinary books. But after a trip to Russia, he wrote unflinchingly of the fear, violence, and despotism there and thereby achieved fame. Today, many critics consider La Russie en 1839 one of the best books ever written about Russia, offering insights that are both emotional, rational, and prophetic of the Stalin regime. Muhlstein, who won the French Prix Goncourt for this biography in 1996, quotes liberally from Custine's letters and writings, revealing much about the man who became a prominent opponent to abuses of political, social, and moral authority. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.--Robert Kelly, Fort Wayne Community Schs