Travel Journals Describing a Visit to the Soviet Union

Scope and Content

Margaret Collin visited the Soviet Union in the summer of 1937 and recorded her observations in three former school exercise books. As well as describing familiar tourist landmarks, such as the Hermitage, these volumes offer fascinating insights into the workings of Stalin's regime and the lives of ordinary Russians across a broad swathe of the Soviet Union, from Leningrad/St Petersburg in the north to the Black Sea and the Crimea. The travel journals combine a detailed narrative of Collin's itinerary and daily activities with more philosophical reflections on the political, social and economic situation in the Soviet Union.