Anna Akhmatova lived in a world suffused with tragedy: She faced the execution of her poet husband, the imprisonment and exile of her son, the deaths of many friends in labor camps, and personal censorship and illness. However, throughout her life she remained committed to being a witness for the times with her daring poetry and prose.

This collection includes Akhmatova's letters, essays on Pushkin, diatribes against the Stalinist establishment, rousing wartime broadcasts, and encounters with fellow poets. Here, through her deceptively simple style, the elusive writer conveys the closest thing to a self-portrait she ever allowed herself.