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Velvet Revolutions: An Oral History of Czech Society

to Christianity at the dawn of the Bolshevik era, when the Soviet authorities were driving religion underground. Despite the persecution, Men’s mother and her closest friends continued to practice their Orthodox faith, making use of personal connections with clergy of the catacomb church in Zagorsk, outside of Moscow. Not only was Aleksandr baptized, but he also received instruction in the faith; for a time, in the immediate post–World War II years (1946–47), he even attended religious classes taught by his mother’s friend, Tat’iana Ivanovna Kupriianova, at her home in the Old Arbat neighborhood of Moscow. The persistence of Christian faith and practice, despite Soviet militant atheism and assaults on the Church, highlights the effectiveness of clandestine networks and the limits of official indoctrination. Daniel’s study also reveals that the subculture Men occupied was, in many ways, continuous with the pre-1917 world of the intelligentsia. In his social milieu, Aleksandr was exposed to Russian and European literature and philosophy, biology, foreign languages, anthropology, and history. This culturally rich environment both shaped Aleksandr’s outlook and provided the intellectually curious young man an opportunity to learn and explore. The knowledge he gained and a mindset that embraced seeking and searching, coupled with his talent for establishing a rapport with people, made him uniquely equipped to missionize among the Soviet intelligentsia after his ordination to the priesthood in 1960; it also set the stage for some of the difficulties he would encounter in his pastoral work. In his three decades as a parish priest, Men—a man of profound Christian faith, a strong aversion to coercion and dogmatism, an open posture toward the world, and a burning desire to break down walls between people through Christian teaching—confronted obstacles in the form of KGB interrogations and searches; passivity among much of his fellow clergy; obstruction by superiors; and, eventually, critiques of his writings. Initially relying on selfpublishing and the smuggling of manuscripts to be published abroad, Men found fresh outlets for his message with the openness engendered by Gorbachev’s reforms in the midto late 1980s. Men filled lecture halls, visited schools, and even made television appearances in a quest to bring Christianity to the masses. Unfortunately, Men’s pastoral outreach ended just as it culminated. Since the murder of Fr. Aleksandr has never been solved, Daniel is left to speculate about the motives, but he believes forces opposed to Men’s ambitious vision and open model for the church, whether the KGB or ultranationalists, were responsible. Russia’s Uncommon Prophet, the first scholarly treatment of Men’s life, will replace Yves Hamant’s Alexander Men: A Witness for Contemporary Russia (A Man for Our Times) (Oakwood Publications 1995) as the standard English-language biography. The reader finds in Daniel a strong researcher and astute analyst with a firm command of Soviet history and strong grasp of Men’s worldview. Daniel also raises a host of issues that can fruitfully be explored in more depth. A short review cannot do the book justice. A few minor inaccuracies, periodic hyperbole, and the occasional echoing of sources that tend to overgeneralize Men’s sophisticated worldview do not compromise this tome’s overall value. The extensive background Daniel provides, coupled with his lively narrative style, make the book accessible and appealing to general readers interested in history. Meanwhile, the thorough treatment of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and Daniel’s insights into religious life make the book a must-read for historians specializing in the Soviet Union.