Nicolai Burov: “We are all a little bit pagan”

The acting profession is amazing. It teaches you how to manage an audience, something that politicians, lawyers, economists and any boss needs to be able to do. This profession teaches you to identify the main thing…

…8

Pushkin’s Princesses

As a graduate of the Lyceum, true to his ardent nature, Pushkin fell in love with Yevdokiya Golitsyna at first sight. Natalia Golitsyna became the prototype for his “Queen of Spades”.

…14

The man who doesn’t laugh

From early childhood he had suffered from a ferocious melancholy. He fought against it desperately all his life, but never managed to overcome it.

…26

The Ghosts of the “Island of the Dead”

“Anyone who was brought to the island of Oreshek was considered a dead man, even while still alive.” Today the fortress, which has become a branch of the State Museum of the History of St Petersburg, contains only two intact and “inhabited” buildings.

…34

"In joyful seasons naught can vie with wine"

…40

Success is as unpredictable as life itself

Here, in a setting fit for a Shakespearean drama we find cool calculation, the excitement of risk, success and dashed hopes.

…44

Captain Kidd’s Treasure

The pirate smashed his accomplices’ skulls and scattered their bodies along the approaches to his cache – the sceletons were supposed to point the way.

…48

Good health to us all!

Semion Altov: “Once I was even danced to.” A friendly chat with a touch of the festive season.

Comic Tale A Run of Luck

…62

A Crown of Thorns for the Innocent Emperor

The young prisoner was simply put to death by his guards in his awful cell and that death was the logical conclusion of a long and bitter struggle for the Russian throne, a struggle marked by a long succession of betrayals, palace intrigues and coups.

…66

The Army of Childhood

A talk between the writer Mikhail Glinka and Georgy Vilinbakhov on the boyhood fascination with model soldiers that can last a lifetime and the history of those democratic toys.

…80

In the Embrace of the Tango

The Argentinean tango is more than a dance. It is a philosophy and a style of life. It is a way of looking at the world. It is a universal language of communication. Bodies in conversation. When the closeness becomes unbearable, the pair make the first step.

…108

"Lovelace’s renown has faded"

Peter’s plan was simple: to bring Russia’s noblewomen out of isolation in the terem and into public social gatherings... That is how the Tsar hoped to introduce free and easy contact between men and women.

..92

"You can be a man of deeds and think of beauty"

…102

Squaring the Circle

No other artistic enterprise of the period could boast such a galaxy of names. Indeed it remains unprecedented in the whole history of porcelain worldwide.

…118