During the month of March, the University of Notre Dame Press is featuring The Red Wheel, Nobel prize-winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s multivolume epic narrative about the Russian Revolution.
Solzhenitsyn tells this story in the form of a meticulously researched historical novel, supplemented by newspaper headlines of the day, fragments of street action, cinematic screenplay, and historical overview. The first two nodes—August 1914 and November 1916—focus on Russia’s crises and recovery, on revolutionary terrorism and its suppression, on the missed opportunity of Pyotr Stolypin’s reforms, and how the surge of patriotism in August 1914 soured as Russia bled in World War I. March 1917, the third node, published in its first English translation by Notre Dame Press, tells the story of the Russian Revolution itself.
The Red Wheel has been compared to Tolstoy’s War and Peace, for each work aims to narrate the story of an era in a way that elevates its universal significance. In much the same way as Homer’s Iliad became the representative account of the Greek world and therefore the basis for Greek civilization, these historical epics perform a parallel role for our modern world.
To remember the 105th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, Notre Dame Press is hosting a social media trivia contest, book giveaways, and special discounts for The Red Wheel collection. You can follow and participate on twitter, facebook, and instagram. The goal of the campaign is to educate readers about both the Russian Revolution and the literary importance of The Red Wheel, and to increase attention in the three March 1917 volumes.
Resources
Check out the Red Wheel landing page here.
See March 1917 Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3.
For more information on The Red Wheel, visit The Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Center to learn more about Solzhenitsyn’s legacy.
Read reviews on The Red Wheel books here and here.
The March 1917 volumes are part of The Center for Ethics and Culture Solzhenitsyn Series.
If you have questions, contact: Kathryn Pitts, pitts.5@nd.edu, 574.210.6155.
Originally published by at undpressnews.nd.edu on February 24, 2022.