Monarchies · Heritage · Society · Paris
King Charles III will make his first state visit to France at the end of March, reportedly on the 27th. To mark the royal visit, the official dinner will be held at the Palace of Versailles, as it has been in the preceding 150 years of Franco-British relations. During
Archive · In the Press · Society · Humour
It is forbidden to write: of the bureaucrat, Of the officers, of the soldier, Of the strike, of the movement, Of the clergy, of the ferment, Of the peasant, of the ministry, Of the execution, of the Cossacks' brutality, Of the police, of arrests, Of robberies, of manifestos! But
Art · Society
The Stolen Cupid, 2015. By the contemporary Italian artist Daniele Accossato. Accossato reimagines the fate of classical works of art, portraying them stolen, wrapped up, deprived of liberty and ready for dispatch. It is an allegory of the workings of the modern art world, which commercialises works of art and
The East · Geography · Monarchies · Society
The Roman Empire and the Mongol Empire at their height. The maximum population of the Roman Empire was around 75 million, or 20 people per square kilometre. The Mongol Empire at its peak reached 100 million, or around 3 people per square kilometre. Today the population density of Europe is
NB! · In the Press · Society · People
Museums · Observations · Heritage · Society · Nature
Yesterday came the news that the governor of Smolensk is stripping the Khmelita museum-reserve of its status as a specially protected natural area. I am very fond of Khmelita and have been there many times, so I immediately approached the museum's management for comment, and I return
Faith · Monarchies · Mores · Society · People
In 1955, when Queen Elizabeth's younger sister Margaret turned 25, she was due to marry her beloved, Colonel Peter Townsend. But the marriage did not take place, by the decision of the Queen: as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, she could not countenance the marriage of
Books · Monarchies · Observations · Society
Remember how they drummed the great Vissarion Belinsky into our heads at school. Well, let us turn to his writings. Here is a review of 1836 of N. Polevoy's «Russian History for First Reading», in which Belinsky calls Ivan the Terrible a man of good inclinations, and a
Archive · Moscow · Society · Nature
In the 1950s, Moscow was full of pigeon feeders like this one in Sokolniki. One could come across a sign in the city reading “Caution, pigeons!”. But a couple of years after thousands of pigeons were released at the opening of the World Festival of Youth and Students, there turned
Art · Monarchies · Society · Humour
The illustration evidently alludes to the antisemitic laws adopted by Carol II in 1940
Archive · Art · Society · Humour
The New Years weep as they read their 1940 travel vouchers to the countries of Europe. The only happy New Year is the one bound for the USSR. The author of this New Year cover of Krokodil for 1939/1940, Konstantin Rotov, was sent to the camps for 8 years
NB! · Faith · Society · People · Rome