Molotov - ruthless apparatchik, participant in the collectivizations and the Great Purge - was also an ardent bibliophile. Molotov's library and his magic lantern became the prisms through which Rachel Polonsky renewed her vision of Russia.
The book explores the impact of English literature on Russian poets during the transition from Romanticism to Aestheticism, highlighting key figures such as Shelley, Ruskin, Pater, Frazer, and Wilde. It examines how these influences invigorated the Russian imagination at the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries. Additionally, it delves into the intellectual context surrounding these interactions, addressing themes of national identity, literary influence, and the development of comparative literary history in Russia.