Lenin
‘A group of deranged idiots’ – how the Soviets saw the Avant-Gardists
First welcomed, then vilified, by Lenin, Russian artists such as Malevich, Tatlin, Kandinsky and Chagall would find their only real supporters in the West
In seven years, Lenin changed the course of history
Between his return from exile and his death, Lenin launched – and perverted – the revolution that shapes world politics today
Nothing is certain in Russia, where the past is constantly rewritten
Nothing is certain in a country where the past is constantly rewritten, says Owen Matthews
For ruthless inhumanity, the Bolsheviks were unbeatable
Sara Wheeler describes the appalling brutality of the Russian Revolution and its far-reaching aftermath
Bolshevism: the enemy of democracy
From ‘News of the week’, 1 June 1918: Bolshevism is the negation of democratic government. There is no pretence on…
The art of persuasion
It’s hard to admire communist art with an entirely clear conscience. The centenary of the October revolution, which falls this…
High life
When the Germans smuggled arguably the world’s most evil man into Russia 100 years ago, they did not imagine the…
Teffi: from Russia with laughs
‘Ah! Scrubbing the deck! My childhood dream! As a child I had once seen a sailor hosing the deck with…
When the Russians killed Mother Russia
On the 24–25 October 1917 (according to the Julian Calendar, or 7–8 November according to the Gregorian) the political disputes which…
Here’s my solution to the problem of what to do with the statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College
Lobengula was the second king of the Matabele people in what is now Zimbabwe. He was also the last. Cecil…
The threat from Russia’s spies has only increased since the fall of Communism
‘No, we must go our own way,’ said Lenin. The whole world knows him as Vladimir, while he was in…
Charlie Chaplin, monster
No actual birth certificate for Charles Spencer Chaplin has ever been found. The actor himself drew a blank when he…
The many attempts to assassinate Trotsky
Leon Trotsky’s grandson, Esteban Volkov, is a retired chemist in his early eighties. I met him not long ago in…
Secrets of the Kremlin
A building bearing testimony to the power of eternal Russia; a timeless symbol of the Russian state; a monument to…
The Tragedy of Liberation, by Frank Dikötter - review
The historian of China Frank Dikötter has taken a sledgehammer to demolish perhaps the last remaining shibboleth of modern Chinese…
