Tag Archives: Kirov

Happy Birthday, Robert Conquest

“I think once you accept that you have the answer to everything, you can do anything to bring it about because your enemies are trying to stop you, are enemies of reason, of truth of everything – enemies of the … Continue reading

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2021 Books Read

I lived at three addresses this year. I moved twice. In the middle of a pandemic. It’s been a year of upheaval, transition, as well as endurance. For most of this year, the majority of my stuff was in storage. … Continue reading

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Stuff I’ve Been Reading

Lots of re-reads because 1. I’m in turmoil. The familiar is a comfort. 2. The majority of my books have been in storage for almost a year. We all have been reunited but they’re still in boxes stacked against the … Continue reading

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2018 Books Read

2018 Books Read 1. Tamburlaine, Part 1, by Christopher Marlowe I finished 2017 with Paradise Lost, in the mood to continue with rigorous challenging poetry. I decided to read the complete plays of Christopher Marlowe (re-read in most cases). The … Continue reading

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Recommended Books: Fiction

I’ve added to this list. I still want to do a Non-Fiction one, eventually, but … you know … time permitting. Some authors are represented multiple times here. Other authors aren’t represented at all. For no real reason. Don’t read … Continue reading

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Today in History: Dec. 1, 1934

Josef Stalin and Sergei Kirov From: Stalin and the Kirov Murder, by Robert Conquest: This century has seen horrible crimes on a mass scale, culminating in the Jewish Holocaust. No comparison with these can be sustained. But as an individual … Continue reading

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You know you are an irredeemable geek when …

… you squeal with sincere delight when you open a package from a second-hand bookseller – to see that you have finally received the book you ordered: Stalin and the Kirov Murder, by Robert Conquest. I squeal with delight over … Continue reading

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The Arbat

I just finished the novel The Children of the Arbat, given to me by my friend John. He knew I HAD to read it (even though I had never heard of it before) because of my whole Stalin interest (here’s … Continue reading

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“Grokking” Stalin And The Murder of Kirov

Update: I just realized that my description of 3 a.m. anxiety may obscure the rest of the post, which would be unfortunate. So if you want to skip over that part to get to the Stalin stuff, feel free. You … Continue reading

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