Peter Finn (Author) PETER FINN is national security editor for The Washington Post and previously served as the Post's bureau chief in Moscow. Petra Couvee (Author) PETRA COUVEE is a writer and translator, and teaches at Saint Petersburg State University.
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 Couvee] manage to shed new light on both the period and the characters involved -- Virginia Rounding Financial Times A compelling, seductively written tale of Cold War censorship and paranoia -- Kate Williams Independent 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 Couvee have presented it with immense care and colour. The aftermath of the affair still has resonance even now -- John Simpson