Esperanto and Languages of Internationalism in Revolutionary Russia

Esperanto and Languages of Internationalism in Revolutionary Russia should be obligatory reading for anyone interested in language politics, internationalism, or Russian history. In this beautifully written, highly engaging book, O'Keeffe reveals how the Russian Empire shaped the development of Esperanto, and how Soviet Esperantists' dreams of a harmonious, united, international community eventually collided with Stalinist xenophobia and chauvinism. * Rachel Applebaum, Assistant Professor of Modern Russia and Eastern European History, Tufts University, USA * Heeding the calls to globalise the study of Russian and Soviet history, Brigid O'Keeffe has produced a pioneering study of the rise and fall of Esperanto at its birthplace, Imperial Russia, from the age of the Great Reforms to the violent repression as the language of treason during the Stalinist Purges. Drawing on extensive archival materials, O'Keeffe is able to examine and reconstruct Esperanto as a movement driven by genuine grassroot internationalism. She demonstrates how it served as a means of self-expression and self-transformation for its proponents, enabling them to build up transnational networks, real and imagined communities, and transcend the borders in the age of rampant nationalism. Prodigiously researched and lucidly argued, this remarkable study of transnational ideals and activism shows that the Esperanto movement should not be treated as a quirky footnote in history, a tragic story of naive dreams and their predictable failure, but one that can re-vitalise our understanding of globalisation at the fin-de-siecle and the global politics of language in revolutionary Russia. O'Keeffe has produced a book of great humanity, insight, and scholarly discovery. * Matthias Neumann, Senior Lecturer of Modern Russian History, University of East Anglia, UK *