Book, Molotov's Magic Lantern, A: Journey through the History of Russia[LS]

A unique tribute to Russian history and culture, the book evokes the spirit of great artists and the haunted past of a country devastated by war, famine and totalitarianism. When she moved to Moscow in the 1990s, British journalist Rachel Polonsky began living in a building that, during the time of the tsars and, later, the Soviets, was reserved for the most eminent servants of the State. Long before her, Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin's cruel trusted man, had also lived within these same walls. Venturing into the apparatchik's old apartment, Rachel Polonsky discovers his private library, and Mólotov then reveals himself to be a fervent bibliologist: he had read practically all the classics and owned many original editions, some even signed by writers that he would later send to the Gúlag. Each book Polonsky finds becomes an invitation to a journey through Russia and its history. The journalist goes in search of places related not only to the writers she finds in the library, but also to the members of the elite who lived in Molotov's building. From the north to the south of the country, between Chalámov and Dostoevsky, the author presents in these pages the past of a devastated country, but eventually rescued by its writers. Invitation to a journey and celebration of literature, Molotov's Magic Lantern brings the poetry of great books, from which we never completely leave.