How we lived in the USSR

Abstract for the book "How We Lived in the USSR" by D. Travin: Discussions about how people lived in the USSR have been going on since the collapse of the Union. However, disputes between those who are nostalgic for Soviet reality and convinced supporters of reforms rarely take a reasoned turn. In his book, Dmitry Travin tries to correct this and collects a large amount of factual material testifying to a bygone era: from letters, diaries, memoirs and anecdotes to economic statistics and scientific papers. At the center of his research is the life of an ordinary Soviet person: how he worked and studied, relaxed and went shopping, interacted with the official ideology and dreamed of traveling abroad. The author seeks answers to the most important questions for the post-Soviet consciousness: why do we yearn for the Soviet past and curse it at the same time? What in it was determined by the social system, and what existed independently of it? What part of the Soviet "legacy" should be abandoned forever, and what should be taken with us into the future? Read more...