Edward Radzinsky: books, programs, plays and biography of the writer

A writer or historian? Researcher or mystifier? Edvard Radzinsky chose to write his books a style that at one time brought recognition to the great Alexander Dumas - the style of historical narrative. However, unlike Radzinsky, Dumas never claimed the accuracy of the chronicler. He created exclusively artistic works, although he invested in them a fair amount of interpretation of the causes of significant historical events. And Edward Radzinsky's books abound with citations of historical documents, extracted by the author from dusty archives and storages.

So what is this? A true story, described in a living language? Or just a successful genre move, bringing a considerable income? Whatever it was, no one will argue with the fact that under the skillful pen of the writer historical personalities who, thanks to the general school curriculum, remained in memory at best a collection of several dry dates and events, acquire flesh and blood and draw the reader into the whirlpool of real passions And accomplishments.

Becoming a writer

Edward Radzinsky was born in 1936. At the time of his childhood, the very heat of Stalin's repression fell . The future writer was 17 years old when the great leader died. By that time, Edward was already a mature boy, able to understand and analyze what was happening around him. Especially since he lived in Moscow and was brought up in the family of a playwright, and hence, from the earliest years, he revolved around the center of public life.

Soon the young man enters the Moscow Historical Archival Institute. Probably, even at that time an unquenchable thirst for knowledge of the events of the long-past days began to manifest, which consumes the popular author to this day. Many hours spent in the dusty archives of an unknown student.

Especially he was captured by stories about Joseph Vissarionovich. Subsequently, for a whole decade, Radzinsky Edward ("Stalin" - a novel over which, according to the author himself, he thought all his life) will complete the life of his life.

However, the historical layers, which the writer raises, are by no means limited to one or two centuries. It is not tied to any geographical area. Edward Radzinsky's books can take the reader both during the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte, and at a concert for Mozart, and in the dark alleys of the palaces of the reign of Nicholas II.

Carier start

Writer Edward Radzinsky, whose biography in the literary aspect begins the breakthrough of the pen in drama, wrote his first play in 1958. She had some success. The play was dedicated to G. Lebedev, a Russian scientist who studied the history and culture of India. This image was familiar to the recent graduate, since his thesis was dedicated to G. Lebedev.

Edward Stanislavovich begins to learn to extract practical benefits from information that for the majority remains completely unclaimed. He understands that his enthusiasm can turn boring for the common people facts into exciting stories. And this discovery inspires him.

Confession

However, a real fame comes to the newly-made playwright with the production of the work "104 pages about love."

Soon he tries his hand and in the work of a screenwriter - in 1968 he released a black and white feature film "Once Again About Love," which is a processing of the play that the public liked.

From this time on, the playwright, continuing to work on theatrical works, does not bypass the film industry. He is the author of a screenplay of seven television films. At the same time, his plays are gaining popularity not only in the vast expanses of the Soviet Union, but also abroad.

TV shows

In the 1990s, the situation in the country was rapidly changing. It was necessary to look for new sources of income, which Edvard Radzinsky fully understood, whose films, although they continued to be shot, were paid for this once, and the profits from the plays were rapidly falling, since most people at that time simply did not have time for the theater.

And then he undertakes to popularize the story from the TV screen. Over any kind of visual escorts, he does not bother, but just sits in the studio in front of the camera and broadcasts the text in the form of a lecture.

However, these transfers are a success. And, in spite of the fact that Radzinsky can not even be qualified with talent for talented speakers, the information he presented from the screen captured viewers so much that the design flawed against her background.

The secret of popularity

Edvard Radzinsky likes to refer to names that are heard by people - Nero, Socrates, Seneca, Casanova, Mozart, Napoleon, Nikolai Romanov, Stalin. He appeals to the unquenchable interest that excites these individuals throughout the centuries. What is the secret of Mozart's genius? Why did Stalin manage to stay in power? Why did they commit the brutal murder of the entire royal family?

However, the main ingredient of the historian's success is not in the "why" questions and not even in the answers to these questions. The real talent of the writer is that he talks about historical personalities as neighbors or close friends. They cease to be shadows from the past and turn into truly living people who want to empathize.

From telecasts to books

For a long time, Radzinsky was conducting a "Mysteries of History" program, for which he was awarded the "Tefi" prize. Realizing that he had found the right channel, Edvard Radzinsky, whose "Mysteries of History" was gradually exhausted, goes on to write historical novels.

Soon his novels become bestsellers and are published in many languages by the largest publishers. However, the attitude towards the works of Radzinsky remains extremely ambiguous. Funny, but exactly what helped him to gain popularity, namely - the ability to vividly draw historical events, was the main reason for criticism.

And the truth, reading his novels, at some point involuntarily catch yourself thinking, but is it really a historical reality or just a successful artistic fiction?

Criticism

It can not be said that the arguments of critics are absolutely devastating, but they can not be called completely groundless. Here is one example of the inaccuracy that Edward Radzinsky ("Napoleon: life after death") admitted in his novel: after the conversation that took place in 1804 between Bonaparte and Fouchet, the emperor complained that "Byron and Beethoven denied him the former Love ". The incident is that by the time Byron turned 16 years old and the opinion of this boy well could not excite Napoleon.

This discrepancy is indisputably forgivable for the writer, but Edvard Radzinsky claims to be a historian, and they are judged quite differently.

Elements of the Detective

Another historical character, to which Edward Stanislavovich paid considerable attention is the last emperor of Russia. And in this his work fully reveals another feature of the author, which helped him to win such a wide range of readers. This is an element inherent in the detective story, the illusion that the reader is slowly unraveling the complicated matter, relying on documents, evidence and available facts, which Edward Radzinsky provides as far as the narrative goes.

Nicholas II and his family appear here in the role of victims of cold blooded murder, and by the end of the novel the reader gets a complete picture of the events that led to the shooting of the person who refused the throne and who did not exert the slightest resistance of the emperor with his wife, his young daughters and a sick young son.

Bold theories

Edward Stanislavovich's approach is also interesting, and to the conclusions he makes on the basis of the information received. It is clear that anyone, even the most meticulous historian, has to fill in the blanks invariably present in the historical canvas with some assumptions. However, Radzinsky's theories are quite unexpected.

For example, in one of the works, he gives a series of evidence that Tsarevich Alexei escaped after a bloody night of shooting in the Ipatiev House. According to Radzinsky, Alexei Nikolayevich grew up safely and became an exemplary Soviet citizen working out the shifts at the plant. It is clear that he had to change his name and kept his origin secret. But when he was found, he calmly and without complaint presented evidence that he really Romanov.

However, the author did not bother to explain how a boy, sick with hemophilia, for whom a real danger to life was represented by virtually any scratch, could have been wounded by firearms in the forest. Nor does he tell how the crown prince could have survived to adulthood. It was unlikely, even under the vigilant supervision of the best doctors in the royal family.

Summarizing the aforesaid, it can be noted that if you write a serious scientific work on history, it will probably be somewhat unprofessional to refer to the novels of Edvard Radzinsky as an authoritative source. But if you are just interested in history, you should read his creations. If you treat them with a fraction of healthy skepticism, you can learn a lot of interesting things for yourself. So enjoy your reading!