In the Land Without Soviets

This past summer I spent a few weeks in the Soviet Union. I visited Moscow, Leningrad, and Sochi, the Black Sea resort. It was an illuminating experience. I shall set down here my first impressions, with all their limitations and advantages.

Russia mourns 20 million dead, soldiers and civilians, lost in the war with Nazi Germany; and over one million Russians died in the early years of the civil war. Add to this the 20 million Russians who died during the Stalinist period (1927-1953)�...