On the publication of his new book, The Invention of Russia (Allen & Unwin), join Arkady Ostrovsky, Moscow Bureau Chief of The Economist, in conversation with John Lloyd. What are the sequence of steps which have taken Russia 'from Gorbachev's freedom to Putin's war' over the last 30 years? Talk and Q&A, followed by drinks. In English.
In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev launched Perestroika, opened Russia up to the world, ended the Cold War and gave his people freedom. Thirty years later, Russia emerged as a corporate state, overcome by imperial nationalism fanned by an authoritarian president, who ignited a war on the borders of Europe. How exactly did this happen? As a foreign correspondent in his own country, Ostrovsky has experienced Russia's modern history first-hand, and through original research and interviews he describes the ideological conflicts, compromises and temptations that have left Russia on a knife-edge.
Arkady Ostrovsky is a Russian-born, British journalist who has spent fifteen years reporting from Moscow, first for the Financial Times and then as a bureau chief for The Economist. He studied Russian theatre history in Moscow and holds a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University. His translation of Tom Stoppard's trilogy, The Coast of Utopia, has been published and staged in Russia.
John Lloyd is a contributing editor to the Financial Times, to which he contributes features, analysis, book reviews. For the Financial Times, he has been Labour Editor, Industrial Editor, East European Editor and Moscow Bureau Chief. In 2003, he was the founding Editor of the Financial Times Weekend Magazine. His awards for journalism include the British Press Award for Specialist Reporter of the Year, the Granada Award for Journalist of the Year and the David Watt Prize for outstanding journalism.
Doors open 6.30pm; talk and Q&A 7pm; drinks 8pm; close 9pm.
(Ticket includes drinks).