Russian history

The Cancellation of Russian Culture

Even at the height of the Cold War, no one thought of banning Russian literature, art, or music. Continue Reading »

14 Mar 2022

Needed: An Ecumenical Reset

The Vatican must inform Patriarch Kirill that the Holy See’s ecumenical contacts with Russian Orthodoxy are suspended until Kirill condemns the invasion of Ukraine. Continue Reading »

9 Mar 2022

History, to the modern mind, has a goal and follows the path of progress, so that new becomes identified with better. It was on this basis that, a century ago in Russia, communist belief seized the moment. Typically for the progressive tradition, the word “new” acquired a magical . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 2022

Russian Purgatory

by Algis Valiunas

The Russian soul. The phrase serves as shorthand for Russia’s national character, after the manner of American innocence, French arrogance, Italian dolce far niente, and what used to be the English stiff upper lip. Russians are reputed to feel more than the rest of us do, think deep thoughts . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jun 2020

The New Lazarus

by Gary Saul Morson

The Aviator by eugene vodolazkin translated by lisa c. hayden oneworld, 400 pages, $26.99 In one of the greatest memoirs of the Stalin years, Nadezhda Mandelstam wrote, “We have to get over our loss of memory.” Beginning with Gorbachev’s glasnost, and especially after the fall of communism, . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2019

Royal Fatalism

by Leann Davis Alspaugh

The Romanovs: 1613–1918 by simon sebag montefiore vintage, 784 pages, $35 The Romanovs Under House Arrest: From the 1917 Diary of a Palace Priest by afanasy belyaev translated by leonid michailitschenko holy trinity, 136 pages, $29.95 The Romanov dynasty begins and ends with one name: . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 2019