p. 119, Baratynsky: Yevgeny Baratynsky (1800–44) was a Russian poet and contemporary of Pushkin.
p. 124, the Tales of Ivan Belkin: A collection of five short stories by Pushkin, published in 1831.
p. 126, Dzerzhinsky: Felix Dzerzhinsky (1877–1926), or “Iron Felix”, established the notorious Soviet secret police, the Cheka, shortly after the October Revolution of 1917.
p. 127, Anton Makarenko: Makarenko (1888–1939) was a Soviet educator and the founder of orphanages for children displaced by the Russian Civil War.
p. 128, samizdat… Znamya magazine: The term samizdat, derived from the Russian for “self-publishing”, refers to the clandestine publication of literature not permitted by the authorities. Znamya is a literary periodical.
p. 132, HIAS: The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a charity established in 1881 to assist Jews who were forced to emigrate from Russia.
p. 133, Carl Proffer: Professor of Russian at the University of Michigan, Carl Proffer (1938–84) co-founded the publishing house Ardis, which specialized in Russian literature not tolerated by the Soviet authorities, both in translation and in the original.
p. 134, Gladilin: Anatoly Gladilin (1935–), Russian writer who defected in the 1970s from Russia to live in Paris.
p. 135, Alberto Moravia: Alberto Moravia (1907–90), Italian writer and journalist.
Acknowledgements
The translator wishes to thank the following:
Amy Flanagan, for finding the time in her Blackberry-dominated life to correct my grammar. Alex Billington, for adding polish to the text. Beth Knobel and Marti Whelan, for the encouragement. Facebook friends, for the support and humour. Kirill Belyaninov, for his encyclopedic knowledge of Soviet prison jargon. Andrey Aryev for his intellectual generosity. My father, for leaving behind an amazing gift that allows us to continue a dialogue.
And my mother, who was right.