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Tag Archives: Robert Conquest
“I Told You So, You Fucking Fools”
or … that’s what Kingsley Amis reportedly told Robert Conquest should be the title of the new edition of The Great Terror: A Reassessment when it came out with updated information – information which basically not only vindicated Conquest (who … Continue reading
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
Posted in On This Day
Tagged politics, Robert Conquest, Russia, Sergei Kirov, Stalin, The Great Terror, war
3 Comments
Totalitarian Reading
Over the weekend I finished two books: Why Orwell Matters by Christopher Hitchens (READ IT) and Language of the Third Reich: LTI: Lingua Tertii Imperii by Viktor Klemperer (I could say READ IT – but you would seriously have to … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Christopher Hitchens, George Orwell, politics, Rebecca West, Robert Conquest, Robert Kaplan, war
60 Comments
The Books: “The Great Terror: A Reassessment” (Robert Conquest)
Next excerpt from my history bookshelf: Next book on the shelf is The Great Terror: A Reassessment, by Robert Conquest One of the most important non-fiction books of the 20th century. It was first published in 1968, and then was … Continue reading
Fungus in Red Square
Member this whole story? About Lenin sprouting fungus in the middle of Red Square? The whole embalmed leader thing has always fascinated me on a very abstract level. It’s so creepy, and – so labor-intensive – like – people’s entire … Continue reading
Robert Conquest to Elias Canetti
Finished The Great Terror yesterday. Have they taken away Walter Duranty’s Pulitzer yet? You know who struck me as even more ridiculous than Duranty? The “Webbs” , Beatrice and Stanley Webb. They sat at those trials, and saw justice being … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Crowds and Power, Elias Canetti, politics, Robert Conquest, The Great Terror, war
2 Comments
The Purge Of the Artists
This morning I read the chapter in Conquest’s book The Great Terror about the purge of the artists in Stalinist Russia. For obvious reasons, this chapter affected me deeply. The writers, actors, theatre directors, poets … and of course, the … Continue reading
“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
Posted in Books
Tagged 1984, George Orwell, Hopeful Monsters, Robert Conquest, Russia, Sergei Kirov, Stalin, The Great Terror
30 Comments