The CIA and Dr. Zhivago

In a world teetering on the brink of atomic war, the Boris Pasternak novel Doctor Zhivago offered a profound meditation on the human condition, challenging the reader to confront the tension between individual freedom and societal pressures. Echoing the contemporary struggles for liberty and self-expression unfolding across the globe, Pasternak's masterpiece resonated with our innate desire for autonomy and meaning, urging Soviets and Americans alike to consider the choices we faced in the face of oppression and the enduring power of the human spirit.The subsequent David Lean movie with Omar Sharif and Julie Christie in the leads ensured that Zhivago would be a long-lasting cultural milestone, as well as source of great meaning and pleasure to anyone with the capacity to appreciate art and human emotion.

The documents in this book, declassified by the Central Intelligence Agency some years ago, show the Agency in the somewhat surprising role of international book publisher, struggling to disentangle a complicated rights situation so that Dr. Zhivago could be published in as many languages and territories as possible. An unusual and fascinating episode that sheds much light on the battle for meaning during the Cold War-and incidentally on the sometimes fractal complexity of book publishing!

This annotated edition illustrates the capabilities of the AI Lab for Book-Lovers to add context and ease-of-use to manuscripts. It includes several types of abstracts, building from simplest to more complex: TLDR (one word), ELI5, TLDR (vanilla), Scientific Style, and Action Items; Notable Passages and summaries for each page; essays to increase viewpoint diversity, such as an exploration of the ethics of the project; Grounds for Dissent, Red Team Critique, MAGA Perspective; and a meta-inquiry in the voice of Pasternak entitled "Pasternak Reflects."