A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

I loved this book, which is a brief summation of Russian history from the revolution through the 1950's.
I picked it up because it was on Obama's reading list, and while I have lost any respect that the presidency might confer on a person, I still respect him.
Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is living in the Hotel Metropol in 1922 when he is sentenced to house arrest for writing a poem that offended the ruling parties.  He remains there, largely within it's confines for a goodly portion of the novel.  He has to move form his luxury suite to a much smaller room, but he is a breath of fresh air throughout the novel.  We learn about the goings on in Russia through the voices of his visitors, and it is a turbulent era, what with people being shot and exiled to Siberia, the Great Patriotic War and Stalin's regime.  It is beautifully told, and eye opening in a way that enchants.  It is, as one reviewer put it, a reminder of what it is to be classy.  The Count has no attitude about his fall from grace.  He occasionally outwits his captors, but he largely lives a full and rich life within the confines of an exquisitely appointed hotel.  I hear that this is being made into a movie or mini-series, which I do hope does it credit.