Russia starts here - Howard Amos

Pskov nestles below St. Petersburg, with its western edge bordering on Estonia, Latvia and Belarus. Once a thriving nexus of trade and cultural exchange, today it is one of the poorest and most sparsely populated parts of the Russian Federation. Howard Amos’s recently published book, Russia Starts Here: Real Lives in the Ruins of Empire (Bloomsbury, 2025) is a lyrical portrait of this forgotten region. It includes a fascinating chapter on the Mikhailovskoye estate, where Pushkin lived in exile from 1824-1826, and the associated Pushkin Hills Museum.  Other chapters include one on Father Tikhon, who is widely believed to be ‘Putin’s confessor’; Lev Shlosberg, a rare opposition leader and regime critic still at liberty in Putin's Russia; the real story of the raising of the red flag over the Reichstag in 1945; a brilliant photographer and Instagram star, Dima Markov, who died of a heroin overdose; a doctor at a psychiatric hospital; and Old Believer communities in Eastern Estonia. The book has rightly won plaudits from fellow writers: 'A different level of insight to anything I've read for a long time about Russia.' (Sophy Roberts, author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia); 'Exquisitely observed. Full of empathy, Amos refuses easy stereotypes.' (Tom Parfitt, author of High Caucasus).

In his talk, illustrated with slides and informed by his intense and extensive personal experience, Howard Amos tells us about Pskov Region and the deep affection he feels for both the region and its people.