Book on life under Stalin banned by Kremlin, claims Orlando Figes

Atticus, the Russian publishers, have cancelled their contract with the award-winning British author, Orlando Figes, for his latest work, The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia. Their decision comes after masked officers from the Russian general prosecutor's office raided the offices of Memorial, a human rights organisation which helped Professor Figes research the book. As well as confiscating about a third of the material used for the book, the officers seized Memorial's entire St Petersburg archive, according to Prof Figes. The archive included vast historical databases containing information on repression in the country, as well as recordings and transcripts of interviews, he said. - Telegraph