Molotov's Magic Lantern: A Journey in Russian History by Rachel Polonsky xmasNF Yaroslav Hrytsak

Yaroslav Hrytsak

forgotten histories and tales of adventure

But like a vision in the midst of this nightmare

places Turgenev's great novella First Love alongside a selection of his classic stories

to flee or to collaborate

Molotov's Magic Lantern: A Journey in Russian History by Rachel Polonsky xmasNF Yaroslav HrytsakWhen Rachel Polonsky went to live in Moscow, she found an apartment block in Romanov Street, once a residence of the Soviet elite. One of those ghostly neighbours was Stalin's henchman Vyacheslav Molotov. In his former apartment, Rachel Polonsky discovered his library and an old magic lantern. Molotov ruthless apparatchik, participant in the collectivisations and the Great Purge was also an ardent bibliophile. Molotov's library and his magic lantern