Books by Svetlana Boym

Exploring the cross-cultural history of the idea of freedom, from its origins in ancient Greece to the present day, this title argues that our attempts to imagine freedom should occupy the space of not only what is but also what if.

Boym provides a view of Russia that is historically informed, replete with unexpected detail, and stamped with authority. Alternating analysis with personal accounts of Russian life, she conveys the foreignness of Russia and examines its peculiar conceptions of private life and common good, of Culture and Trash, of sincerity and banality.