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"She burst across the revolutionary sky like a blazing meteor, dazzling all in her path," Trotsky wrote. For the poet Boris Pasternak, she was Lara, the heroine of his novel Doctor Zhivago.
Commissar, revolutionary fighter, espionage agent, journalist, Larisa Reisner (1895-1926) was a model for the 'new woman' of the Russian Revolution, and one of its most popular and brilliant writers, whose works were published in mass editions and read by millions. In this sweeping biography, Cathy Porter sets her life against the backdrop of the world-shaking events of 1917. Drawing on material recently released from the Soviet archives, Porter tells Reisner's story through the memories of those close to her, her own voluminous writings, and her six books--published for the first time together with this biography.
Cathy Porter
Cathy Porter has published biographies of the Russianwomen revolutionaries Alexandra Kollontai and Larissa Reisner, as well as books about women terrorists of the 1860s, Russia’s 1905 revolution, and the Battle of Moscow. She has translated more than thirty books and works for the stage, including plays by Gorky and the Czech Karel Capek. She lives in Oxford.
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