In the current age, as we face the dilemma of how to prevent the erosion of faith in absolutes and final solutions from ending in moral nihilism, we have much to learn from the struggles, failures, and insights of Russian thinkers, Kelly says. Her essays -- some of them tours de force that have appeared before as well as substantial new studies of Turgenev, Herzen, and the Signposts debate -- illuminate the insights of Russian intellectuals into the social and political consequences of ideas. of such seminal Western thinkers as Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Darwin.

"With its joint consideration of literature and thought and its stress on Russian pluralist and liberal traditions, this is a significant and exciting volume. Kelly makes a major statement on Russian thought, and also on our own". -- Gary Saul Morson, Northwestern University