The Complete Memoirs of Serge Obolensky: One Man in His Time

by Serge Obolensky

Few men lived lives larger than Serge Obolensky. Born to one of Imperial Russia's great aristocratic families, Serge had an idyllic childhood growing up at a time when his country seemed poised for an economic boom at the start of the 20th century. Coming of age at the start of the most destructive period in human history, he served as a cavalry officer on the Eastern Front of the First World War. Then, as his nation collapsed into Bolshevik tyranny, he chose to stay and fight as a guerilla for the doomed White Army.

Eventually forced into exile, Serge rubbed shoulders with the elite of European society, wandering through the height of the Roaring Twenties and eventually landing in America. Swearing absolute loyalty to his newly adopted home, Obolensky embarked on a series of adventures in the world of high culture, finance, and industry, witnessing firsthand the growth of America from regional hegemon to global superpower.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, Obolensky volunteered for the special forces. There he trained experimental units, developed advanced combined arms tactics, and eventually became the oldest man to complete parachute jump school. His extreme courage and skill led him to be selected for a series of seemingly-impossible assignments: first securing the peaceful capture of Sardinia with only a three-man team and later preventing the destruction of Paris's only electric power plant during the German retreat from France.

All of these exploits and more are detailed in Obolensky's memoirs, One Man in His Time, now available at an affordable price for the first time in decades.

Genres: Biography, History, European History

363 pages, Paperback

Published January 16, 2021

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another superb memoir from Mystery Grove. Serge Obolensky was a product of the Russian nobility (a prince in fact). He saw it in its last, splendid days, and lived through its downfall. Obolensky served as a cavalry trooper in WWI and led a band of Tatar guerillas against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War. After escaping from the Bolsheviks by a hair's breadth he lived among the wealthy and connected social set in London, Paris, and New York.

Obolensky's last, and perhaps strangest adventure was WWII. A U.S. citizen by then, he volunteered for the army and managed to land a spot in the O.S.S., Wild Bill Donovan's spies and commandos. Obolensky's behind the lines missions included getting the Italian army on Sardinia to surrender and leading French maquis against the German army.

It's a fascinating look at a by-gone era by a keen observer of his time.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obolensky is a candid and clear seeing writer, who lived a life that almost defies belief (a brief sample World War 1, Russian Revolution, and came back in his 50s to active duty as a US Army Paratrooper in World War 2). I responded strongly to the bucolic depictions of Russian rural life in the late 19th century, incredibly vivid pictures of a mostly vanished world.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is trying to understand the complexities and history of the current Ukraine-Russian war. While the text doesn’t read like a text book, much of his story provides background to today’s cultural differences and similarities that seem to be at least in part, at the root of the war. Serge’s story is fascinating and certainly his was a life well-lived. I loved the book and have recommended it to all my friends.

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A life to envy

Obolensky's life is definitely one to envy. Still it rather disappoints me how easily he betrayed his russianness. Maybe if people like Obolensky didn't run away from dying Russian Empire and stayed with the White Army till the end we would live today in a completely different world, without long 70 years of terrible soviet experiment