Yet another Antony Beevor book, this one with a slightly different focus. I must confess, I’d never heard of her before, but it is said that Hitler admired her for her "cosmopolitan sophistication." However, Olga Chekhova, niece of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, and great icon of Nazi cinema never quite escaped her roots and worked as a Soviet agent while reaping the rewards of stardom under the Third Reich.
Beevor constructs an absorbing and expansive story, not just of an actress/spy, but far more broadly, a tale of revolution and its profound effect on Russian society that occurred between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Juxtaposing Moscow and Berlin, he explores the divergent trajectories of the regimes and the impact on a family of artists. Amid the tale of Olga Knipper-Chekhova and her extended family (particular her brother - former White Guard and subsequent NKVD spy - Lev Knipper), there is a social history lesson of life uprooted by revolution, civil war, and eventually a global war.
In many ways, this intriguing book reads more like a noir novel, of tales of Soviet espionage and counter-espionage. Yet I must admit it left me feeling slightly empty, perhaps spoilt by the more expansive earlier works by Beevor. At the end, you are still left somewhat wondering at the motivations of all concerned. A solid, if unspectacular read.
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