- Published: 19 June 2014
- ISBN: 9781448155651
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 384
The Zhivago Affair
The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle over a Forbidden Book
- Published: 19 June 2014
- ISBN: 9781448155651
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 384
A thrilling literary espionage yarn...sheds new light on the Cold War struggle for the hearts and minds of millions of people
Michael Dobbs
Groundbreaking reporting and character-rich storytelling... Passionately written...almost makes one nostalgic for a time when novels were so important that even the CIA cared about them
Ken Kalfus
A sparkling and fascinating account
David E. Hoffman
Well-paced narrative...of great relevance today, when such conflicts seem (but only seem) to have disappeared.
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Brisk and thrilling...expertly told...a triumphant reminder that truth is sometimes gloriously stranger than fiction
Publishers Weekly
A fast-paced political thriller about a book that terrified a nation
Kirkus Reviews
Excellent, superbly researched, and as exciting in its way as any Cold War thriller. Pasternak himself emerges clearly and strongly in all his complexity. This was the most important literary controversy of the post-war world, and Finn and Couvée have presented it with immense care and colour. The aftermath of the affair still has resonance even now
John Simpson
An extraordinary, gripping tale of art and espionage, The Zhivago Affair embodies the belief shared by its flamboyant cast of geniuses, barbarians, lovers and eccentrics: books matter
AD Miller, author of SNOWDROPS
Finn and Couvée deal objectively with the characters involved and tell the story with exceptional vivacity
Literary Review
A galloping page-turner and a stark picture of a nation ruled by terror and unreason, which reads like a sinister rewrite of Alice in Wonderland
John Carey, Sunday Times
Packed with fascinating detail … vibrant authenticity and calm analysis
Claire Morrall, Independent on Sunday
Fascinating… [Finn and Couvée] manage to shed new light on both the period and the characters involved
Virginia Rounding, Financial Times
Beautifully crafted and scrupulously researched… The Zhivago Affair is a prime example of hard work and fidelity to a good story
Washington Post Sunday
High dudgeon, high stakes, high art
Robert Bound, Monocle
Fascinating...With a delightful eye for detail
Catherine Merridale, The Times
A compelling, seductively written tale of Cold War censorship and paranoia
Kate Williams, Independent
A wonderful book
Angus Roxburgh, The Herald
[The Zhivago Affair] really is a thriller, a page turner
Vin Arthey, Scotland on Sunday
Immensely compelling
Fred Hiatt, The Pat Banker
Meticulously researched
Duncan White, Irish Independent
The true strength of this meticulously researched book is the placing of the revelations into the context of a compelling human drama
Weekly Telegraph
Engrossing
Andrew Lynch, Sunday Business Post
A fascinating tale that sheds new light on the literary front of the Cold War
Stephen Coulson, Lady
A fine contribution to our knowledge of what became known as the Pasternak affair
Robert Service, Times Literary Supplement
A you-couldn’t-make-it-up account of the CIA’s campaign to smuggle copies of Pasternak’s banned novel into the USSR
Mark Mason, Spectator
As gripping as any spy thriller
Sunday Times
[An] outstanding treasure of literature
Market Oracle
Impeccably researched, and moving, this book breaks new ground
5 stars, Sunday Telegraph