AMALRIK Andrei
WILL THE SOVIET UNION SURVIVE UNTIL 1984?
Paris 1970, Literary Institute, pp.89, [3]; format 13.5x21.5 cm, publisher's softcover
Andrei Amalrik (Russian: Андре́й Алексе́евич Амальри́к) (born May 12, 1938 in Moscow, died November 12, 1980 near Guadalajara) is a Soviet and Russian writer, publicist, dissident.
In April-May 1969 he wrote the famous essay "Will the Soviet Union Survive until 1984?" (Просуществует ли Советский Союз до 1984 года?), in which he predicted the inevitable collapse of the USSR due to, among other things, a possible war with China. Published in the West by the Herzen Foundation, it included a note in the second edition (Amsterdam 1970): "Received from the author on July 4, 1969, signed for printing on November 7, 1969; in accordance with the Basic Law of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, printed without preventive censorship." In the spring of 1970, together with Vladimir Bukovsky and Pyotr Yakir, he gave an interview to American television, and the recording, shown in July 1970, was the first to show Soviet dissidents to the Western public. On May 21, 1970, he was arrested and taken to Sverdlovsk, where he was sentenced to three years in a camp under Article 190-1 of the USSR Criminal Code for "spreading a priori false fabrications defaming the Soviet social and state system." On the last day of his imprisonment - May 21, 1973 - he was sentenced again, to 3 years' imprisonment. He then began a hunger strike that lasted 117 days. In November 1973 his sentence was commuted to 3 years in exile, he stayed in Magadan, and finally returned to Moscow in May 1975, thanks to protests in his defense. He participated in consultations before the announcement of the activities of the so-called Moscow Helsinki Group(Russian) (established to oversee the Helsinki Accords).
DB condition/ minor staining of covers, discoloration on inside cover page after removal of protective wrapper