Today, we in the West live in countries which have evolved beyond righteous political assassinations. When killings, and attempted killings, do take place, we find they are inevitably instigated by minds troubled by mental illness. The reality is, our standard of living, coupled with our general belief in a just society, has leeched all of the righteousness out of the act. There is no striking a blow for freedom, but this wasn't always the case. Ms. Siljak's moving and chilling chronicle of the attempted murder, which kicked off an age of terror and revolution in 19th century Russia, not only animates the radicals who first gave us the concepts of terrorism and nihilism, it shines a light on the soul-crushing conditions which are necessary for people to knowingly give up their liberty, and even their lives, to perform acts of violent justice.
On January 24th, 1878, Vera Zasulich, the radicalized daughter of an impoverished noble family, capitalized on a public audience with the governor of St. Petersburg, withdrawing from her clothes a powerful revolver and shooting the governor in the lower torso. She made no attempt to flee in the chaotic aftermath; in fact, she deliberately allowed herself to be arrested in the belief that to flee would make her seem, to the people, ashamed or guilty. She wanted Russia to know why she had committed this crime. She wanted them to follow her example and stand up for themselves and demand justice from a monarchy and a nobility that had been leeching off of them for generations. The assassination, however, backfired on Zasulich in two dramatic ways. First, the governor survived her attack, the bullet having lodged too low in his pelvis to do damage to his vital organs. But secondly, and much more importantly, Zasulich, rather than being martyred by the Russian establishment she so loathed, she was the beneficiary of a newly liberalized judicial system which bent over backwards to grant her a fair trial. Her lawyer was able to argue that Zasulich was a victim of the system, a convenient lie Zasulich detested. Consequently, her act became the trigger event for an age of terror, but her message of vengeance and justice was lost in the tumult.
This is an outstanding biography of a woman pushed into radicalism by rank injustice and the ambition of vicious revolutionaries. Ms. Siljak is juggling a lot of balls here: illuminating Zasulich's background, articulating the injustices Zasulich sought to give voice to, and fitting the events of 1878 into the broader framework of Zasulich's unhappy life. Ms. Siljak succeeds in every respect. Highlights here include the depiction of the unspeakably cruel and undoubtedly charismatic Sergei Nechaev, the revolutionary leader and nihilist who radicalized Zasulich, and the incredible irony that Zasulich's message was lost in what amounted to the 19th century version of the O.J. Trial! Unbelievable. Lowlights are mostly limited to Ms. Siljak's plodding description of Zasulich's frustrating and depressing later life. On balance, this is an exceptional biography. Top five this year, easily. (5/5 Stars)
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