Moscow Nights

Moscow Nights is a riveting photo essay on Moscow's nightlife by world- renowned photographer Antonin Kratochvil. It is a voyeuristic tour through the decadence and hedonism of the new "Golden Youth" as they enjoy their spoils. Kratochvil captures everything from go-go dancers-both performing for admirers and catching a cigarette behind the scenes-to club goers cavorting aboard a yacht that once was Stalin's and writhing on the dance floor. Through the nighttime journey, Kratochvil also exposes the reader to a much deeper social commentary on the new generation and its heritage.Deliberate desire describes Mother Russia's coldest credential. The emotion is at times cruel and other times wanton. It is a controlled dispassion that is, today, so apparent in the gilded circles of her "Golden Youth." The off spring of Russia's new Czars possess the suave indifference that is Mother Russia's true nature and that of her elite; a black mark of distinction worn like a beauty spot for maximum effect. It is a force that has existed without end-the foreplay equal to the climax, seduction dependent upon opulent wealth.This is the first photo essay on Moscow nightlife: powerful, uncensored, beautiful, and arousing.Antonin Kratochvil (born 1947, Czechoslovakia) is a founding member of VII, the esteemed cooperative picture agency. Over the past twenty-five years, his assignments have taken him around the world and on diverse assignments. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, TIME, Conde Nast Traveler, GEO, Mother Jones, Smithsonian, Natural History, and the United Nations Choices magazine. His other books include Broken Dream, Incognito, and Vanishing.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility. 'A comic masterpiece.' The Times 'Winning . . . gorgeous . . . satisfying . . . Towles is a craftsman.' New York Times Book Review 'A work of great charm, intelligence and insight.' Sunday Times 'Everything a novel should be: charming, witty, poetic and generous. An absolute delight.' Mail on Sunday 'If we do a better book than this one on the book club this year we will be very very lucky.' Matt Williams, Radio 2 Book Club 'Abundant in humour, history and humanity' Sunday Telegraph 'Wistful, whimsical and wry.' Sunday Express On 21 June 1922 Count Alexander Rostov - recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt - is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. But instead of being taken to his usual suite, he is led to an attic room with a window the size of a chessboard. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. While Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval, the Count, stripped of the trappings that defined his life, is forced to question what makes us who we are. And with the assistance of a glamorous actress, a cantankerous chef and a very serious child, Rostov unexpectedly discovers a new understanding of both pleasure and purpose.