I hvn’t read these I admit, but have gone through most f the classics. A fascinating read was A Family History of the Tolstoys by a ‘Count Tolstoy’ born in the UK. A genuine Tolstoy but which revealed how widespread the family was.
One thing that stood out to le was that the family name was ‘Idris’ before an amiable insult was passed by a High Prince Vasiliv (I think from memory) to an elder Idris calling him ‘Fatty’ which is the literal Russian term ‘Tolstoy’
The things we can learn on Survive France eh?
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I have just had a look through my collection of Russian books, and have discovered on for some reason I have yet to read but which looks interesting ‘Le Roman de la Russie Insolite’ - Roman de Saint Petersbourg/ et Kremlin’ by . Vladimir Fédorovski. As you say apart from the classics, my collection of Russian language books and assorted French and English translations are mainly history of art related The latter are quite easy to translate as the titles and comments are usually brief.
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I really must add ‘The Russian Ark’ to my list which can be found on Youtube plus ‘The Making of the Russian Ark’.
For those who haven’t heard of it it is one of the most amazing ‘single take’ journeys round the Hermitage in St Petersbourg. I won’t be a spoiler, but even if not interested in Russia or Russian Art (Plebs!!!) this is a new form of educational costume drama and cinematography. Highly recommended!
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The People’s Act of Loveis set mainly during the revolutionary war that followed the 1917 revolution - it’s a good read in lots of ways, but if you have spent much time in Russia outside the big cities you will find it remarkable for the way it captures the feeling of people and places - including some pretty weird stuff.
Spufford in Red Plenty set out to write a factual history of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, mainly post-Stalin, but it turned into a novel (though a strange one, having many pages of scholarly endnotes at the back). I’ve spent many hours talking to Russians - including some of those long vodka-fueled nights talking ‘soul to soul’ - about their complex feelings for the Soviet years. Many westerners would be shocked at how common the view is that the Khrushchev-Brezhnev years were better than either what came before, or what came after the soviet collapse. Red Plenty really does capture their feelings - it’s a warts-and-all description of the real lives of many Russians mainly in the Khrushchev period - indeed centred on the historical moment when it looked like emergent computer science and the work of Kantorovich, etc, could make the planned economy work (but the party hacks, afraid it would undermine their power, backed off, ousted Khrushchev, and ultimately ensured the collapse of the system).
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Yes, but funny how people forget that Kruschev was Ukrainian, when they go into denial of Russia’s involvement in that country. He also ‘gifted’ it back to them unilaterally in one of those odd moments.
If you want to read a work of Fiction - read his memoirs!
there were times when Kruschev made me smile… 
but my favourite was Gorbachev - definitely…
One of my favourites, but as far as I’m aware, it’s not one of the longest single takes in cinematic history, but at 93 minutes(?) the longest (unless one includes art films made with static cameras such as Warhol’s 8 hr Empire or Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hour Psycho - the brief shower murder scene from the eponymous Hitchcock film slowed down to run for 24 hours).
Russian Ark is compelling viewing and a a techncial tour de force, it was filmed in the Hermitage and they only had one chance to shoot the whole movie.
Thanks too for your alternative take on Russia, not my favourite country, politically or gastronomically but some sound arguments for an alternative to our dominant perspective.
One of the Open University modules that I used to deliver was the Arts Foundation module (AA100) which included a chapter on Khruschev’s post-mortem denunciation of Stalin’s tyrannies. One aim of the module was to introduce students to the idea of analysing, or deconstructing the motives of authors of historical documents used in the construction or demolition of political figures’ reputations. And of course, these skills are needed more than ever in the era of ‘fake’ and so-called ‘fake news’.
I’m sure you’d enjoy the chapter, but I’m unable to easily separate it from the rest of the book so have attached the whole thing. It’s probably a massive breach of copyright, but WTF (as they say in those less salubrious areas from which many really strong OU students are drawn). The dissemination of knowledge is paramount, but it’s also as important to educate people into being discriminating between reliable and unreliable sources of info. Hard work!
AA100 Book 1.pdf (3.9 MB)
Well, much to my surprise, the whole book is now there to be read if one choses, and I hope it might provide a stimulating read for some SF people.
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Great stuff, Mark. These OU texts are IMO fantastic value for very little money, and make for wonderfully rich learning experiences. 
On a slightly lighter note - have you watched The Death of Stalin - a surprisingly erudite British Comedy on the subject. It is also hard to go past the remarkable Robert Duval interpretation of ‘Stalin’. also on video.
To be fair one has to give credit to Kruschev for ensuring the rapid execution of Beria before he could climb ito the vacant chair. THAT would have been a horror story of major dimensions!
it is more than thirty years since i lived in britain, so it has been a really sad experience to read the letters in the guardian today, i haver been notably pro-british as is known, but now i am finding it harder than ever to find a point of reference i can relate to;
most of you here have come from the uk - what reasons prompted your move (q) under current circs would you see yourself returning and if so what would be the motivation (q)
(as ever one finger typing!)