Welcome to Litsy!

The good: there is some interesting information about the Soviet space programme.

The bad: the author is deeply, deeply biased against the Soviets. He can't admit that they ever did a single thing right.

Also, he snidely dismisses Wally Funk's space flight in a paragraph in which he gets the facts wrong. He claims she was below the threshold (the Kármán line, 100km), but Blue Origin peaked at 107 and WAS above the Kármán line.

This... is very anti-Russian, in a way that feels like being anti-Russian is a principle for him. Like I get their space programme was an omnishambles, but there's just this air of total contempt about it that doesn't feel limited to hatred of incompetence. Not sure if I will finish it.

The dissidents of 1960-1970s USSR were a small, complex, intelligent, and ambitious group. Nathans breaks down the individual personalities as well as the statistics of the groups. He doesn't pull his punches in regard to the blind eye shown to women in the movement or the glaring intensity focused upon those with Jewish ancestry. Beautifully written and thoughtful.

Slezkine introduces the reader into the homes and histories of the families living in the House of Government. Their fanatic idealism, close, almost familial, ties to their fellow political revolutionaries is as inspiring as it is melancholy as their friends were behind their downfall and/or death.It is with astonishing to realize many of those who lost everything still considered Stalin their friend and savior. the font is almost painful to read.

Published in 1980, only four years after Belenko's escape from Russia (and well before the fall of the Berlin Wall), this book was quite fascinating. Belenko actually had more or less the ideal situation in Russia as the MiG-25 pilots were highly valued and treated well (by Soviet standards). Reading about his slow recognition of the cognitive dissonance between what he was being taught about his country vs the west and what he could actually ⬇

Yelchin's memory tale of being a child behind the Iron Curtain is beautiful but harrowing as he navigates the everyday experiences of growing up, along with a crushing regimen of state surveillance, old family secrets, vicious antisemitism, and pressure from his parents to excel so that he may one day escape his circumstances. His art is his solace, and the illustrations throughout are gorgeous and interspersed creatively among the text.

Out of Churchill, Hitler, & Stalin, I know the least about Stalin so decided now would be the perfect time to read this first book in the two part series. How did Joseph Dzhugashvili from Georgia become the megalomaniac ruler of Russia & preside over millions of deaths of his own people?

Very dry to begin with but then gains traction.

Today, I made Karelian pasties, using mainly this recipe: https://www.saimaalife.com/recipe-finnish-karelian-pies/ I was very bad at shaping them 😞
I served them with mushroom soup, which although not specifically Finnish I thought would go well with them. Quite nice.
#Finland #FoodandLit
@Catsandbooks @Texreader

Mark Galeotti provides a detailed analysis of the combat in the Panshir valley during the Soviet Afghan war, offering insight into the Soviet 40th army and the Mujahideen fighters, accurately portraying the events leading up to and following the campaign. This work is recommended for Cold War enthusiasts, military history enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the history of Afghanistan.