Lesley Chamberlain, novelist, traveller and historian of ideas, has been pondering the enigma of Russia for over thirty years. She finds that during the last two centuries Russian intellectuals have asked two fundamental questions: 'what makes a good man?' and 'what is the right way to live?' Motherland is a unique introduction to the key Russian thinkers and an eloquently-narrated journey in the history of ideas. By examining Russian thought over the past two centuries, Lesley Chamberlain has produced a radical new interpretation of Russian intellectual history that, finally, gives us a glimpse in to the soul of that singular country.