First published in Italy in 1957 amid international controversy, Doctor Zhivago is the story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago's love for the tender and beautiful Lara, the very embodiment of the pain and chaos of those cataclysmic times. “As well as a gripping story, Doctor Zhivago is a work of meditation and quiet challenge.  Pasternak meant every word of it.” - The Times Literary Supplement “One of the very great books of our time.” - The New Yorker