Romantic Exiles: A Nineteenth Century Portrait Gallery - Softcover

"A documented study of a whole group of Russian exiles--all revolutionary in word if not in deed, and nearly all bound together by some kind of more or less intimate personal relationship.... If the men are the spiritual heirs of Rousseau the women are the emotional children of George Sand. The 'All for Freedom' of the one balanced the 'All for Love' of the other...not only a fascinating human story but a real contribution to the study of European history."--"Saturday Review" "Beyond praise. This classic about Alexander Herzen and his fellow exiles from Czarist Russia is a masterpiece of biography, spirited, enthralling, and profound."--Francis Steegmuller "There is a great charm in the way Mr. Carr has recreated the atmosphere of those strange Russian exiles, 'run to intellect, ' who caused so profound an influence on Europe's literary evolution in the middle of the last century. Great figures are conjured up with real skill by Mr. Carr's able pen."--"The New York Times"

First published in 1933, "The Romantic Exiles" is a unique and spirited biography of Alexander Herzen (1812-1868), a self-exiled Russian aristocrat who was the leader of a small group of revolutionary-minded expatriates. Their story is the record of the inevitable and disastrous linkage of political and emotional liberalism in the two decades following the Romantic rebellion of the 1830's; and it is the story of the destruction of their ideals and achievements (political and personal) due to shifting ideologies and the passage of time.