Film Review: Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer (2023) ★★★

Although Oppenheimer is a solid and historically accurate film, it is overly long – making its missed opportunities all the more glaring – and the key dramatic tension rests on speculation that was considered entirely fictional long before 1945.

Could The Mongols Have Conquered Europe?

One of the most frequently asked questions in alternate history discussions concerns whether China could have been first to the Industrial Revolution had Europe also – or instead – been conquered by the Mongols. Answer: It’s sort of a moot question. It seems to be quite unlikely that the Mongols were capable of conquering Europe in principle. In […]

Вторая Отечественная Война

Ни к одной стране судьба не была так жестока, как к России. Её корабль пошел ко дну, когда гавань была в виду. Она уже претерпела бурю, когда все обрушилось. Все жертвы были уже принесены, вся работа завершена. Отчаяние и измена овладели властью, когда задача была уже выполнена. – Уинстон Черчилль Но даже полная немецкая победа […]

Пуританская Правда

Перепечатываю часть дискуссии на russians.sexy, где я немного потроллил либеральных националистов: Пуритане – прекрасные чуваки. Но сильно оклеветанные, в том числе в самой США, не говоря уже о СССР-России. Вот несколько интересных фактов, в основном из книги Дэвид Хакетт Фишер, “Семя Альбиона“. (1) Очень интеллектуальные – уровень грамотности даже среди самых ранних поселенцев в Америку в […]

Ленин – Совок, Сталин – Ватник

“Как хорошо, что я не россиянин…” – Егор Холмогоров. Примерно такая у меня возникла реакция на новость, что мои соотечественники считают Сталина “самого выдающего человека всех времен и народов”. Но проблема в том, что россиянин – это все равно на 80% русский, как не крути, и эту проблему простым семантическим способом – не преодолеть. 1989 […]

Черносотенец прийде – порядок наведе

Кем бы вы были в 1917 году? Ответ, наверное, очевиден:

A Very Brief History of China-Russia Relations

The response of much western commentary to the Russia China agreements has been scepticism that they can ever burgeon into an outright partnership because of the supposedly long history of mutual suspicion and hostility between the two countries. The Economist for example refers to the two countries as “frenemies”. To see whether these claims are […]

Translation: Russia isn’t Germany – It has Nothing to Repent For

The German president has decided to teach Russia to fight with remnants of totalitarianism, and could not think of anything better than to call to repent. Original article by Alexander Romanov German president allowed himself to teach Russians to fight “remnants of totalitarianism” The German president  decided to teach Russia to fight with remnants of totalitarianism, […]

Translation: Dark Clouds of Revanchism

Izvestiya runs a piece by political scientist Avigdor Eskin on historical revisionism in Eastern Europe (especially in the Baltic countries and Ukraine) pertaining to World War II. Dark Clouds of Revanchism For more than 20 years, Nazi revanchism in Eastern Europe has been allowed to roam freely in the post-Soviet space. Immediately after the break-up […]

Russia’s Best Leader was… Brezhnev!

In a recent poll conducted by the Levada Center, Leonid Brezhnev was revealed to be Russians’ favorite ruler of the 20th century. Do you see his era as a Golden Age, or as a zastoi? Russian Attitudes to Former Heads of State

Translation: A Pity the Nazis didn’t Make Lampshades out of Today’s Liberals

In one of the most scandalous op-eds of the year, KP’s Ulyana Skoybeda takes the liberal Leonid Gozman to task for equating SMERSH with the SS. The original byline was later toned down, and the author offered a partial – and some insist, halfhearted – apology. The Politician Leonid Gozman Says: “A Nice Uniform is the […]

Translation: The Red Army “Rape of Germany” was Invented by Goebbels

In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russian history professor Elena Sinyavskaya in a discussion with Alexey Ovchinnikov disputes the factual provenance of the Red Army rape of Germany. The Myth of the “Rape of Germany” was Invented by Goebbels In recent years, Victory Day has unfortunately acquired a not very pleasant tradition: the closer the holiday comes, […]