For many Americans of both right and left political persuasions the Russian bear is more of a bugbear. On the right the country is still mentally represented by Soviet domination. For those on the left it is a harbor for reactionary values and neoimperial visions. The reality however is that despite Russias political failures its rich history of culture religion and philosophical reflectioneven during the darkest days of the Gulaghave been a deposit of wisdom for American artists religious thinkers and political philosophers probing what it means to be human in America.Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn stands out as the key figure in this conversation as both a Russian literary giant and an exile from Russia living in America for two decades. This anthology reconsiders Solzhenitsyns work from a variety of perspectiveshis faith his politics and the influences and context of his literatureto provide a prophetic vision for our current national confusion over universal ideals. In Solzhenitsyn and American Culture The Russian Soul in the West David P. Deavel and Jessica Hooten Wilson have collected essays from the foremost scholars and thinkers of comparative studies who have been tracking what Americans have borrowed and learned from Solzhenitsyn as well as his fellow Russians. The book offers a consideration of what we have in commonthe truth goodness and beauty America has drawn from Russian culture and from masters such as Solzhenitsynand will suggest to readers what we can still learn and what we must preserve. The book will interest fans of Solzhenitsyn and scholars across the disciplines and it can be used in courses on Solzhenitsyn or Russian literature more broadly.Contributors David P. Deavel Jessica Hooten Wilson Nathan Nielson Eugene Vodolazkin David Walsh Matthew Lee Miller Ralph C. Wood Gary Saul Morson Edward E. Ericson Jr. Micah Mattix Joseph Pearce James F. Pontuso Daniel J. Mahoney William Jason Wallace Lee Trepanier Peter Leithart Dale Peterson Julianna Leachman