“If we talk about the most important problem of the Soviet Union, it is the problem of melancholy” • Novaya Gazeta Europe • RIMA — Russian Independent Media Archive
“If we talk about the most important problem of the Soviet Union, it is the problem of melancholy”
Journalist Mikhail Zygar answered questions from New Europe
How is Russian history usually described? First of all, as the history of rulers and their eras. Writer and journalist Mikhail Zygar decided to approach the issue from a different angle. In his latest book, “The Dark Side of the Earth,” he talks about the USSR in a new way - through the habits of the “Soviet man” and his choices during life in the dictatorship. We asked Mikhail 10 questions about life in the late USSR. What undermined Soviet power? How did people feel before perestroika? Why did vodka become the “new repressive apparatus” and what was the main legacy left behind by the Soviet Union?
