The Soviet Century

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An encyclopedic and richly detailed history of everyday life in the Soviet Union, this work delves into the remnants of a unique civilization that has since vanished. It vividly captures what it was like to live in the USSR, exploring the sensory experiences of its inhabitants. The narrative serves as both a museum and a travel guide to the Soviet past, detailing both grand and mundane aspects of life, from the Gulag and planned economy to cookbooks, military medals, and the iconic perfume Red Moscow. The exploration includes well-known elements like long queues, communal apartments, parades, and the Lenin mausoleum, alongside lesser-known yet significant features such as the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Radio Moscow, graffiti, and even the typical toilet, which became a cultural topic. The book illustrates how Soviet life intertwined utopian dreams with everyday routines and an underlying atmosphere of terror, epitomized by the Lubyanka, the secret police's headquarters. Drawing on decades of travel in the Soviet and post-Soviet realms and enriched with over eighty illustrations, this account is both vivid and immediate, based on firsthand experiences with the places and objects it describes. The result is an unforgettable portrayal of a complex era.