A Self-administered Poison

Censorship of the media has been a constant element in Russian cultural life throughout the ages. In the Soviet period it was institutionalized and systematized with unprecedentedthoroughness and sophistication, acquiring not only proscriptive but prescriptive powers. Awareness of its workings is fundamental to the understanding of Russian culture in the twentieth century. Drawing on research in archives that have been opened only since the collapse of the USSR, Arlen Blyum, long recognized as Russia's leading authority on this control system in all its aspects, brings fresh detail and nuance to his comprehensive survey of the subject.