Author and title: Peter Budrin, Laurence Sterne and his Readers in Early Soviet Russia: The Secret Order of Shandeans
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date of publication: April 2026
ISBN: ISBN: 9780198941743
Presentation
What could an eighteenth-century Anglo-Irish humorist and clergyman mean to readers living through the Soviet 1920s and 1930s? This book examines how Laurence Sterne—the author of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy—was read in the Soviet Union during the 1920s and 1930s. Bringing forth previously unknown materials, including translations, marginalia, illustrations, and private letters, it uses Sterne’s comic worlds as a window into everyday intellectual culture in early Soviet and Stalin-era Russia. The book sheds new light on Soviet book history and translation culture, while recovering the often dramatic biographies of early Soviet intellectuals. As the Soviet political climate became increasingly oppressive, Sterne’s works found readers among high-school students, learned philosophers, avant-garde writers, and Gulag prisoners alike.
“The book follows and elucidates the often poignant role that Laurence Sterne played in the works and lives of Soviet writers, translators, and readers in early Soviet Russia. … Engaging, sophisticated, and nuanced, it will appeal not just to specialists but also to a broader audience.” — Galya Diment, Professor Emerita, University of Washington
“A sophisticated, multi-layered reception study … a significant and original contribution to revisionist Soviet historiography, translation studies, and comparative literature.” — Brian James Baer, Professor of Russian and Translation Studies, Kent State University
More information about the book:
Laurence Sterne and his Readers in Early Soviet Russia – Peter Budrin – Oxford University Press 
The “Freest Writer” in Stalin’s Russia | OUPblog
History of Literature Podcast episode:
793 The Secret Order of Shandeans: Laurence Sterne in Early Soviet Russia (with Peter Budrin)
The introduction is available free to download until 22 May:
https://academic.oup.com/book/62527?searchresult=1
Readers ordering the book through the Oxford University Press website can use the discount code AUFLY30 for a 30% discount.