Past and Thoughts - An Annotated Critical Edition

Alexander Herzen's Past and Thoughts was the most influential memoir in tsarist Russia. Passionate and insightful, Herzen watched both eagerly and warily as Europeans sought liberation via the modern nation-state. The first new English-language translation in a century, this annotated edition welcomes a new generation of readers.

About the author

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.

Product details

• Authors: Alexander Ivanovich Herzen
• Assisted by: Robert N. Harris (Editor), Kathleen F. Parthé (Translation), Robert N. Harris (Editor and translation)
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 21.04.2026
• EAN: 9780674495104
• ISBN: 978-0-674-49510-4
• No. of pages: 416
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Russia, European History, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, Memoirs, Autobiography: historical, political & military, Literature: history & criticism, Empires & historical states, Autobiography: historical, political and military, Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe), USSR, Soviet Union, Literature: history and criticism, Russian tsarist empire, LITERARY CRITICISM / Russian & Soviet, HISTORY / Russia / Imperial, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs