Tom Service travels through the arts to find the essence of a century of Russian history.
In the years leading up to the Russian Revolution, barriers were being broken on canvas.
Hear Anna Akhmatova reading one of Russia’s most controversial poems, Requiem.
Shostakovich was all set for a glittering career - until Stalin came to his opera.
In the 1930s the Soviets decided that the original, tragic ending wouldn’t do. Why?
For Russians living through perestroika in the 1980s, rock came to mean social change.
Tom Service visits Moscow's Taganka Theatre, founded by visionary director Yuri Lyubimov.
Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak is one of the most celebrated novels of all time
Andrei Tarkovsky was an iconic film maker, whose films were landmarks in Russian cinema
Pussy Riot's ‘Punk Prayer’ made headlines around the world in 2012
