Communism: everything you wanted to know

Hotel Lux follows the lives of three revolutionary families—the O’Flahertys, Cohens, and Leonhards—whose paths converged in the Comintern’s Moscow living quarters, the Hotel Lux. Historian Maurice J. Casey delves into the connections and disconnections of these forgotten communist activists, including a brilliant Irish translator, a maverick author, the rebel daughters of an East London Jewish family, and a family of determined German anti-fascists. The book provides an intimate insight into the legacies of the Russian Revolution, from its early idealism to the brutal Stalinist purges, and culminates in a queer love story between the daughters of the Cohen and Leonhard families.

Yuri Slezkine's 'The House of Government' tells the epic story of the Soviet elite who lived in a massive Moscow apartment building, exploring their rise and fall through the lens of millenarian cults. The book delves into the personal and public lives of Bolshevik true believers, from their conversion to Communism to the eventual loss of faith and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Drawing on letters, diaries, and interviews, Slezkine crafts a vivid account of the Soviet experiment and its tragic end.