Overview
Nina Anisimova was born in 1909 in imperial St Petersburg. One of the most renowned character dancers of the Stalinist period, she won her way into the hearts of her audience over many decades. Yet few knew that her exemplary career was a fragile construct built atop a dark secret. In 1938, at the height of the Great Terror, Nina vanished. Only a handful of people knew that this famous dancer had not only been arrested by Secret Police, accused of being a Nazi Spy, but sentenced to forced labour in a camp in Kazakhstan. There, her art would become a salvation, giving her a reason to fight for her life when she found herself without winter clothes in temperatures of minus 40 degrees. Over the coming weeks, Nina's husband, Kostia Derzhavin, began to piece together what had happened to his wife. What he decided to do next was almost without precedent - to take on the ruthless Soviet state to prove her innocence. He would put himself in danger to save the woman he loved. Dancing for Stalin is a remarkable true story of suffering and injustice, of courage, resilience and love.
Full Product Details
Author: Christina Ezrahi
Publisher: Elliott & Thompson Limited
Imprint: Elliott & Thompson Limited
ISBN: 9781783965571
ISBN 10: 1783965576
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 12 August 2021
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.
Reviews
'Christina Ezrahi vividly charts this brutal and uplifting story, bringing alive an extraordinary resourcefulness and determination to survive.' Helen Rappaport, author of The Race to Save the Romanovs 'Nina Anisimova's story is extraordinary - heroic and harrowing in equal measure, a snapshot of the best and worst of Stalin's Russia - and Christina Ezrahi does it vivid, gripping justice.' Judith Mackrell, author of Going with the Boys
Author Information
Christina Ezrahi is an award-winning historian of Soviet cultural politics and Russian ballet. Before undertaking her doctoral studies at University College London, she studied International Relations at the universities of Princeton and Oxford, and worked in Moscow for the United Nations. Her first book, Swans of the Kremlin: Ballet and Power in Soviet Russia (University of Pittsburgh Press) was awarded the 2017 prize for Best Dance Book published in France. Christina appears in the media as an expert on the relationship between Russian politics and ballet and has recently acted as historical advisor to Ralph Fiennes on a film about Rudolf Nureyev. Born in Munich, Christina lives in Tel Aviv with her husband and two children, and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She is also a trained classical dancer.
