Vintage 1987 Soviet Book: Doomed Detachment – Natan Eidelman | Tsar to Soviet Books

Vintage 1987 Soviet Historical Monograph: "Doomed Detachment" by Natan Eidelman

For historians of 19th-century Russia, Decembrist scholars, and collectors of Soviet academic literature, this 1987 original Soviet hardcover monograph is an essential narrative history. Published in Moscow by Sovetsky Pisatel (Издательство «Советский писатель»), Doomed Detachment (Обреченный отряд) was written by master archivist and author Natan Yakovlevich Eidelman (1930–1989).

Bound in grey-blue faux-leather boards decorated with a gold foil frame and black emblem, this 512-page volume brings to life the intellectual courage and tragic destiny of Russia’s first noble revolutionaries.

The Decembrists, Mikhail Lunin & Archival Discoveries

Eidelman’s narrative method merges primary archival sources with vivid prose to reconstruct the world of the 1825 Decembrist Uprising:

• Part I — Lunin: Eidelman’s acclaimed study of Mikhail Lunin (1787–1845), tracking his early career, participation in the secret Northern Society, interrogation, and his daring Letters from Siberia written while imprisoned in Nerchinsk and Akatuy.

• Part II — Doomed Detachment: Archival investigations into the network of Decembrists and their contemporaries—including chapters on Liprandi’s espionage, Alexander Herzen, Nikolai Ogarev, and Pushkin’s friends.

• Illustrative Vignettes: Features historic period graphics and chapter embellishments based on works by G. Doré, G. Narbut, and B. Zhutovsky.

Complete Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Обреченный отряд: Повести (Doomed Detachment)

• Author: Natan Yakovlevich Eidelman (Н. Я. Эйдельман)

• Publisher: "Sovetsky Pisatel" Publishing House (Москва)

• Publication Date: 1987 (Moscow, USSR)

• Language: Russian

• Binding: Original publisher's grey-blue textured hardcover, gold foil frame

• Page Count: 512 pages

• Classification: 19th-Century Russian History / Decembrist Movement / Soviet Historical Prose

Condition & Preservation Report

• Exterior Condition: The hardcover boards are clean, flat, and rigid. Gold foil cover framing and spine text remain bright and crisp with minimal edge handling wear.

• Binding Integrity: Exceptionally firm, square, and tight text block with sound hinges.

• Paper Quality: Interior pages are clean and unmarked, exhibiting uniform light cream age-toning typical of late-1980s Soviet paper stocks. Free from marginal notation, library stamps, or owner signatures.