On this week’s podcast, Sebestyen talks about “Lenin”. - Hear the full podcast

The rise of Hungary’s nationalist leader is a sign of what’s to come in eastern Europe - Read full article

Chaos and cruelty have dogged St Petersburg ever since its creation - Read full article

October reminds me of the Marxist histories of my youth - except it’s rather better written... - Read full article

A review of The Last Empire: The final days of the Soviet Union, by Serhii Plokhy. Newly unearthed material sheds fresh light on the...

A review of Gottland, by Mariusz Szczygiel, a profoundly funny book about how one copes with tyranny. - Read full article

Orlando Figes’ bestselling A People’s Tragedy, first published nearly 20 years ago, is one of the most compelling of all accounts of the...

Gavrilo Princip – history's ultimate teenage tearaway. A review of The Trigger, by Tim Butcher. A triumphant and original account of the...

Nobody saw it coming — this superb account re-creates in vivid detail the passing of the Soviet Union 20 years ago. So many moments are...

An outstanding collection from one of Russia’s greats who dared to write against the wishes of the authorities. - Read full article

Having had Rushdie and Coetzee defend him, Milan Kundera’s reflections on other writers shed some light on his own tricky past. - Read...

In the 1980s, the Polish economist Bronislaw Kaminski used to make an observation that confused liberal, leftist and even some...