They Took My Father

Finnish Americans in Stalin’s Russia

Mayme Sevander

Contributions by Laurie Hertzel

A riveting memoir of one family’s struggle under a totalitarian regime

Download Cover Image

Request an Exam Copy

208 Pages, 6 x 9 in

Paperback
9780816643363
Published: January 15, 2004

BUY

Details

They Took My Father

Finnish Americans in Stalin’s Russia

Mayme Sevander

Contributions by Laurie Hertzel

ISBN: 9780816643363

Publication date: January 15th, 2004

208 Pages

9 x 6

A riveting memoir of one family’s struggle under a totalitarian regime

“Mayme Sevander and Laurie Hertzel tell a poignant tale of a hidden corner of U.S. and Soviet history. Tracing the hopes and hardships of one family over two continents, They Took My Father explores the boundaries of loyalty, identity, and ideals.” —Amy Goldstein, Washington Post

“What makes Mayme’s story so uniquely—almost unbelievably—tragic is that her family chose to move from the United States to the Soviet Union in 1934, thinking they were going to help build a ‘worker’s paradise.’ They found, instead, a deadly nightmare.” —St. Paul Pioneer Press

“This gripping and timely book traces the beginnings of communism not as dry history but as a fascinating personal drama that spreads across Russia, Finland, and the mining towns of Upper Michigan and the Iron Range of Minnesota. . . . An important and largely ignored part of history comes alive in one woman’s story of her tragic family, caught up in the all-consuming struggle of the twentieth century.” —Frank Lynn, political reporter, New York Times