Maklakov, Vasily Alekseyevich

Iz vospominanii [From Memoirs]

New York, NY: Chekhov Publishing House, 1954. Item #1394

410 pages. 19 cm. In publisher’s original wrappers. Very Good. Clean, unmarked textblock with only minor wear to the wrappers and slight creasing along the spine.

First émigré edition of the reflective memoirs of Vasily Alekseyevich Maklakov (1869–1957), one of the most distinguished Russian liberal statesmen and legal minds of the pre-revolutionary era. A prominent lawyer and orator, Maklakov served as a deputy in the Second, Third, and Fourth State Dumas and was a vocal proponent of constitutional reform, civil rights, and the rule of law. Closely associated with the Cadet Party and the liberal intelligentsia, he later became an active figure in the White émigré political circles and a representative of the Russian Political Council abroad. His Masonic affiliations and his opposition to fascism—including a brief imprisonment by the Gestapo in 1941—further testify to his lifelong commitment to moral and civic ideals.

This volume departs from his earlier memoirs (published under the same general title) which chronicled the tumultuous years leading up to the dissolution of the Second Duma and the June 3rd Coup of 1907. In contrast, Iz vospominanii shifts the focus inward, using Maklakov’s own life as a narrative lens to explore how the sociopolitical environment of the Russian Empire shaped an entire generation. While not a straightforward continuation, the book offers a more philosophical and personal meditation on the nature of democracy, the responsibilities of the state, and the formative power of lived historical experience. The 1907 coup, once seen by the author in purely negative terms, is here reconsidered as a tragic but potentially stabilizing force that momentarily spared Russia from even more catastrophic futures.

Price: $150.00