In 1818, when Stendhal was in his mid-thirties, he met and fell passionately in love with the beautiful Mathilde Dembowski. She, however, was quick to make it clear that she did not return his affections, and in his despair he turned to the written word to exorcise his love and explain his feelings.
Condemned by the Soviets to the black list of forbidden publications, these journals of the French aristocrat who visited Russia in 1839 were first published in France in 1843. Long recognised as one of the most fascinating and revealing impressions of Russia by a foreigner, they abound in observations on the social, political and religious state and prospects of mid-nineteenth century Russia leading Custine to dire forebodings. Custine's conviction that as long as Russians remained enslaved, isolated and deceived by ambitious rulers they would remain a menace to the rest of the world, will strike a chord with all of us today.
A group of eight essays originally published in the 1954 Camus collection "L'ete".