Guardian of the Angel

Mikhail Mikhailovich BOBROV: “If you let yourself become downcast and stick within your own four walls, you’re bound to turn up your toes.”

…8

Reflections by the Police Bridge

Chicherin gave orders for the policemen on street duty to have their hair cut short and to start wearing jabots. …The fashionable young men of the capital evidently took the hint and acquired a more “presentable” appearance.

…16

A French Interior in a Petersburg House

The unique set of furnishings in the Taleon Club library represents a rare example of French Art Nouveau furniture in Russia.

…24

“An Incorrigible Petersburger”

Particularly against the background of the “hare-skin coats” and grey blouses worn by the denizens of DISK, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, always pointedly polite, prim and elegant, seemed like someone from another world.

…32

They find cigar smoke sweet and pleasant

The monthly gatherings of these passionate cigar aficionados are not only an act of reverence to the magical world of tobacco, but also the collective discovery of hitherto unknown pleasures.

…40

The Play of light

Tender silk, tremulous chiffon and sensuous fur – are the best friends of society lionesses. Vivid proof of this assertion was provided by the evening “In a circle of friends” that took place in the Taleon Club at the height of spring.

…42

The “Gentle Way” on Bull Island

…44

Poultry matters

When it is a question of gastronomy there are truly no limits to human inventiveness and, at times, hard-heartedness.

…46

“I sacrificed everything for love”

The persecutions he had had to endure invested his name with a romantic aura, which was coupled with his reputation as an irresistible Don Juan.

...52

Ceremonies on the Negotiating Mat

The Russians took armchairs with them in order to avoid sitting on the carpet-covered floor like the Japanese and thus impairing the dignity of the monarch who had sent them.

…66

The Glorious Descendant of the Bagratids

For a quarter of a century Bagration had been in the very thick of battle; a quarter of a century men under his command had not known defeat…

…74

The Past Shoots You in the Back

The call from Gadge had caused Miller to drop everything. The playwright could guess what it was about: three months before Kazan had been summoned to Washington by the House Un-American Activities Committee…

…92

And why is love the slave of riches and success?

The bourgeoisie was increasingly squeezing the hereditary aristocracy from the centre stage of Russian life and imposing its own morality on society. Exalted love came to be perceived as “pointless dithering”, it was replaced by simple physiological relations founded on mutual benefit and pleasure. 

…104

Wonders in an Old Sieve

Flea markets can become a genuine mania with city-dwellers, comparable with the “gold fever” of old-time prospectors or a Russian villager’s addiction to mushroom hunting.

…114

Flying after Success

"Spirit will not dare to enter a tent where there is a pure-bred horse. Each night an angel will come down to it, kiss it on the forehead and bless its master.”

…122