Molotov's magic lantern
Subtitle: travels in Russian history
By: Rachel Polonsky
Edition: 1st American ed.
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 390
ISBN-13: 9780374211974
Subjects: Russian Authors; Description and travel; Intellectual life; Communism and literature; Library; Political and social views; Homes and haunts; Travel; History
Description: When the author, a British journalist, moves to Moscow, she discovers an apartment on Romanov Street that was once home to the Soviet elite. One of the most infamous neighbors was Stalin's henchman Vyacheslav Molotov, who was a participant in the collectivizations and the Great Purge, and also an ardent bibliophile. In what was formerly his apartment, she uncovers an extensive library and an old magic lantern, two things that lead her on an extraordinary journey throughout Russia.  In this book, she visits the haunted cities and vivid landscapes of the books from Molotov's library: works by Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Akhmatova, and others, some of whom were sent to the Gulag by the very man who collected their books. With exceptional insight, she writes about the longings and aspirations of these Russian writers and others in the course of her travels from the Arctic to Siberia and from the forests around Moscow to the vast steppes. This work evokes the spirit of the great artists and the haunted past of a country ravaged by war, famine, and totalitarianism.
Notes: "Originally published in 2010 by Faber and Faber Ltd., Great Britain as Molotov's magic lantern : a journey in Russian history"--T.p.  verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Prologue; title: Romanov; title: Apartment 61; title: The banya; title: Lutsino; title: Mozzhinka; title: Novgorod; title: Staraya Russa; title: Rostov-on-Don; title: Taganrog; title: Vologda; title: Archangel; title: Murmansk and Barentsburg; title: Arshan and Irkutsk; title: Ulan Ude and Kyakhta; title: Epilogue.