Daedalus. Wonderfully written, impeccably researched, and utterly engrossing from beginning to end. A touristic work of art that explains how Europe's cultural life was transformed during the 19th century - and much more. The Western Fixer, from the bestselling author of "Natasha's Dance," is a rich, captivating, and panoramic cultural history of 19th-century Europe, told through the interlinked lives of three remarkable figures: the great singer Pauline Viardot, the great writer Ivan Turgenev, and the great collector, Pauline's husband. Their passionate, ambitious lives were connected with an astonishing array of writers, composers, and painters who were trying to find their way through the exhilarating and truly pan-European culture that emerged as a result of vast economic and technological changes. This culture - through trains, telegraphs, and publications - enabled artists of all kinds to exchange ideas and make a living, moving back and forth across the continent, from the British Isles to Imperial Russia, as they embraced a new cosmopolitan era. The Western Fixer is Orlando Figes' masterpiece. Astonishing, beautifully written, it describes enormous changes through intimate details, lesser-known stories, and through the lens of Turgenev and Viardot. Events now regarded as central to high European culture become entirely fresh, allowing the reader to enjoy the simple uncertainty with which grand salon events, premieres, and bestsellers came into existence.
Pages: 576, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm