Pasternak and Stalin: What Was Said? On 13 June 1934 Boris Pasternak was at home in Moscow when the telephone rang. As one of Russia’s most famous poets, he was used to being interrupted; but what he heard when he picked up made his blood run cold. ‘I have Comrade Stalin on the line for you’, said the voice. Pasternak was terrified. Before he could stammer out a reply, ‘the Boss’ himself came on. He wanted to talk about the recent arrest of Pasternak’s friend, Osip Mandelstam. A rather subversive man, Mandelstam had written a poem criticising Stalin and then recited it to a few acquaintance ..read more

The KGB After Stalin In the years following Stalin’s death in March 1953, the Soviet Union changed. Relations with the US remained characterised by rivalry and mistrust, but were less openly hostile than before. Ties with Communist China shifted from declarations of eternal friendship to increasingly bitter recriminations that seemed to threaten war by the late 1960s. The decolonisation process saw increasing Soviet involvement in the affairs of Africa, Asia and Latin America, while great victories in the space race dazzled audiences both at home and abroad. At the start of the 1960s it was ..read more

The English Plan to Colonise Russia In 1613 the English ambassadors John Merrick and William Russell landed in the port city of Archangel, in the Russian north. The first purpose of their mission was fairly innocuous. The two men were given a set of written instructions to protect the financial position of the Muscovy Company, which was, at the time, the main commercial entity that regulated trade with Russia. However, they also had a secret aim: to explore the possibility of annexing part of northern Russia and to set up an English colony in Muscovy. It was hoped that this colony could s ..read more

George Orwell and Russia by Masha Karp review Ella Muir Tue, 08/08/2023 - 00:00 Review Rodric Braithwaite The suggestion that Russia has become an Orwellian tyranny is an inadequate explanation as to why the country finds itself in its present situation. History Today Volume 73 Issue 8 August 2023 The suggestion that Russia has become an Orwellian tyranny is an inadequate explanation as to why the country finds itself in its present situation ..read more

The Red Hotel by Alan Philps review Ella Muir Tue, 08/01/2023 - 09:08 Review James Rodgers The correspondents who reported on a period when Russia changed European, and world, history. History Today Volume 73 Issue 8 August 2023 The correspondents who reported on a period when Russia changed European, and world, history ..read more

Checking In Ella Muir Tue, 08/01/2023 - 09:08 Review James Rodgers The correspondents who reported on a period when Russia changed European, and world, history. History Today Volume 73 Issue 8 August 2023 The correspondents who reported on a period when Russia changed European, and world, history ..read more

Martyrdom of an Old Believer Katie Holyoak Fri, 04/14/2023 - 08:00 ..read more

American Moppets Katie Holyoak Fri, 03/24/2023 - 08:00 ..read more

Could the Soviet Union Have Survived? Katie Holyoak Wed, 10/07/2020 - 09:12 ..read more

Survival of the Least Fit Katie Holyoak Wed, 08/31/2022 - 08:51 ..read more