Journey to Freedom

Sergei Ovsiannikov was arrested and imprisoned for disobedience in the Soviet army in 1973. While in prison, he began to ponder deeper issues and trained to be a Russian orthodox priest. This book is about his search for true freedom and the profound issues he wrestles with. He discovered Christianity and decided that this was the real meaning of his life. It was translated from the original Russian by celebrated translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky with an introduction by Rowan Williams.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 18 February 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Sergei Ovsiannikov, a Soviet army soldier, was arrested and imprisoned in 1973 for acts of disobedience under military command. While in prison, he began to ponder deeper issues and trained to be a Russian orthodox priest upon his release. This extraordinary but short book is about his search for true freedom. The issues he wrestles with are profound and, like any confrontation with truth, caused him great anguish and pain. As Ovsiannikov wrote, "It was in my prison cell that I lost fear. I realized that if they sent me to a labor camp with a long sentence, it did not matter because I was free. Of course, subsequently, I came to realize that freedom is not given, you have to take responsibility for it." It was during this time that he discovered Christianity and decided that this was the real meaning of his life. Later, after a period spent with the Russian Orthodox community in London, Ovsiannikov lived for the last twenty years of his life in Amsterdam in charge of the Russian Orthodox community. Drawing heavily on Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Pushkin and translated from the original Russian by celebrated translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky with an introduction by Rowan Williams, this brief spiritual book is a small masterpiece of its kind.

Weight: 420g
Dimension: 144 x 223 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472983909