Yury Tynyanov"s novel Young Pushkin was first published in serial form between 1935 and 1943 and has made a huge impact in Russia ever since. Although the author did not live to accomplish his full epic scheme "on the origins, development and death of our national poet", he did complete the first part, his fictional masterpiece on Pushkin"s formative years. This is the first English translation.

Tynyanov pioneered a new kind of historical-biographical novel in Russia. In a blend of encyclopedic knowledge and creative imagination, Tynyanov thrillingly brings early 19th-century Russia to life - Napoleonic invasion, rapid political change, and a vast gallery of characters, all representations of real life persons. Those who had a significant impact on Pushkin"s life include his unusual family, with its African blood stemming from his great-grandfather Abram Hannibal, Peter the Great"s protege who became a distinguished engineer general; leading figures of state and Tsar Alexander I himself; educationists and teachers, peasants and writers; Pushkin"s classmates at the Tsar"s newly founded Lycee at Tsarskoye Selo, some of whom were also to achieve fame. Key characters are the brilliant but troubled imperial historian Nikolay Karamzin and his lovely, lonely wife Katerina.

At the centre of it all is the growing Pushkin, explosive, unpredictable, totally absorbed, constantly scribbling verses, having relationships in his teens with women twice his age, living it up in the capital with hussars, actresses and exotic hostesses before being sent into exile for his reckless liberal verse. Tynyanov"s novel not only captures Pushkin the impulsive, swift genius, but seems also, astonishingly, to contain his origins and kinship, his relation to Russian history, and his own future.

Издание на английском языке.

Формат: 16 см x 24 см. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Young Pushkin (Юрий Тынянов)