03629pam 2200673 a 450 991049588260332120230331015434.00-520-35108-80-585-12052-810.1525/9780520351080(CKB)111004366704206(MH)002229741-3(SSID)ssj0000102049(PQKBManifestationID)12025807(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000102049(PQKBWorkID)10048698(PQKB)10942901(DE-B1597)569210(DE-B1597)9780520351080(OCoLC)1198930606(MiAaPQ)EBC30772041(Au-PeEL)EBL30772041(EXLCZ)9911100436670420619910321d1991 ub 0engur||#||||||||txtccrAn American engineer in Stalin's Russia the memoirs of Zara Witkin, 1932-1934 /edited with an introduction by Michael Gelb[electronic resource]Reprint 2020Berkeley University of California Pressc19911 online resource (ix, 363 p., [6] p. of plates )ill. ;Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph0-520-07134-4 Includes bibliographical references (p. 343-354) and index."The films of Emma Tsesarskaia": p. 355.Front matter --Contents --Acknowledgments --A Note on the Text --Editor's Introduction --THE MEMOIRS OF ZARA WITKIN 1932-1934 --Notes --Bibliography --The Films of Emma Tsesarskaia --IndexIn 1932 Zara Witkin, a prominent American engineer, set off for the Soviet Union with two goals: to help build a society more just and rational than the bankrupt capitalist system at home, and to seek out the beautiful film star Emma Tsesarskaia. His memoirs offer a detailed view of Stalin's bureaucracy--entrenched planners who snubbed new methods; construction bosses whose cover-ups led to terrible disasters; engineers who plagiarized Witkin's work; workers whose pride was defeated. Punctuating this document is the tale of Witkin's passion for Tsesarskaia and the record of his friendships with journalist Eugene Lyons, planner Ernst May, and others. Witkin felt beaten in the end by the lethargy and corruption choking the greatest social experiment in history, and by a pervasive evil--the suppression of human rights and dignity by a relentless dictatorship. Finally breaking his spirit was the dissolution of his romance with Emma, his "Dark Goddess." In his lively introduction, Michael Gelb provides the historical context of Witkin's experience, details of his personal life, and insights offered by Emma Tsesarskaia in an interview in 1989.Civil engineersUnited StatesBiographyCivil engineeringPolitical aspectsSoviet UnionCivil engineersBiographyUnited StatesCivil engineeringPolitical aspectsSoviet UnionSoviet UnionPolitics and government1917-1936Civil engineersCivil engineeringPolitical aspectsCivil engineersBiographyCivil engineeringPolitical aspects624/.092BWitkin Zara1900-1940.1232698Gelb Michael1954-1232699DLCDLCDLCBOOK9910495882603321An American engineer in Stalin's Russia2862208UNINA