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“Soviet society was very much given to smoking. Even after Soviet times, we Russians still smoke more than comparable societies in Europe or North America. The Soviets were not much into preventing people from smoking. Until very late, there were hardly any anti-tobacco campaigns. On the contrary, there was a campaign to make people smoke, because that was how the state made profits. The same applied to the state encouraging people to drink because the state profited from the vodka trade. It seems innocent. It may be comic, because the book has all those old Soviet ads, telling people how great it is to smoke a cigarette. But behind this, you see a very, very cannibalistic state. Again, once you see it, you can’t un-see it and once you understand it, you’ll start seeing it everywhere.” Read more...
The Best Russia Books: The 2023 Pushkin House Prize
Ekaterina Schulmann, Political Scientist
