Essential Books on Soviet Design, Architecture and Culture

Most Russian literature on the list of ‘books you must read’ is old and very long. War & Peace or The Gulag Archipelago are striking works of literature—or so I’m told. Both have sat on my shelf for the past two years. Instead, I’ve put together a list of less intimidating books on Soviet art, design, and culture.

 

Books on Soviet Design

Western culture is built around choice, disposability, and keeping up with the Joneses. Soviet design, on the other hand, prioritized function. Objects were built to last. From the Lada to Avos'ka string bags, Soviet factories often produced the same model without change for decades.

1. Designed in the USSR - The masterpieces of Soviet design aren’t found in galleries but in the homes of ordinary people. This book offers a fascinating glimpse into design behind the Iron Curtain, showcasing everyday objects that range from functional to kitschy, politicized, and avant-garde. Covering children’s toys, homewares, fashion, posters, electronics, and space-race ephemera, it reveals what life was like in a planned economy during a unique era in Russian history. You can purchase it here

2. Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design - If Soviet design could be distilled into a single object, it would be the simplest of shapes—Sputnik. A symbol of Soviet superiority, it represents the era’s influence on global design. Made in Russia explores the most iconic objects of Soviet design and their lasting impact. I’ve written about Sputnik’s symbolism in my blog on Soviet propaganda during the Space Race. You can purchase it here

3. Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia - Prison tattoos were a gateway into a secret world. Prison attendant Danzig Baldaev spent decades documenting USSR convicts' tattoos and their meanings. This book shares over 3,000 tattoos, from skulls and swastikas to harems of naked women, a smiling Al Capone, medieval knights, daggers dripping with blood, Christ figures, and mothers with their babies. You can purchase it here

4. Film Posters of the Russian Avant-Garde - While COMRADE Gallery focuses on posters from the '60s through the late '80s, Russia has a long and colorful history of poster production. This book brings together 250 film posters from the pre-Stalin 1920s and '30s, showcasing the energy and inventiveness of the period. The Constructivist influence is evident in their unusual angles, dynamic compositions, and startling close-ups. You can purchase it here

5. Soviet Logos: Lost Marks of the Utopia - In the USSR, art was part of the state. Artists were commissioned to create thousands of logos for state companies. While few have survived, the ones that remain are beautiful. You can purchase it here

6. Soviet Visuals - A curated selection from the cult-classic Twitter account, this book takes readers into the strangely captivating world of the Soviet Union. Through photography, architecture, propaganda art, advertising, design, and culture, it fascinates, amuses, and even teaches a thing or two. You can purchase it here

Books on Soviet Architecture

Kandinsky once said, “Every work of art is the child of its age and, in many cases, the mother of our emotions. It follows that each period of culture produces an art of its own which can never be repeated.” 

7. Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed - Soviet architecture was utilitarian—functional and nothing more. But this book explores 90 buildings across 14 former Soviet Republics that defy that notion. These structures reveal a post-Stalin rebirth of imagination, an obsession with the cosmos, an emphasis on massive forms, and exotic influences. You can purchase it here

8. Decommunised: Ukrainian Soviet Mosaics -  As widespread as propaganda posters, mosaics illustrated an idealized Soviet society. Photographer Yevgen Nikiforov spent three years documenting Ukraine’s most striking examples. His book includes 200 photographs of officially sanctioned mosaics depicting workers, farmers, astronauts, and athletes. Some of these mosaics were destroyed shortly after being photographed, falling afoul of recent decommunization laws. You can purchase it here

 

Books About Russia After the USSR

An empire that once spanned a sixth of the world’s landmass collapsed overnight. In the new Russia, obsessed with image, illusion, and glamour, anything is possible.

9. Red Notice: How I Became Putin's No. 1 Enemy - Sergei Magnitsky, a young lawyer, was led to a freezing isolation cell in a Moscow prison, handcuffed to a bed rail, and beaten to death by eight police officers. His crime? Testifying against Russian Interior Ministry officials who had conspired to steal $230 million. Bill Browder tells the extraordinary story of his battles with ruthless oligarchs in post-Soviet Moscow and his expulsion from Russia on Putin’s orders. You can purchase it here

10. Looking for Lenin - In 1991, Ukraine had over 5,500 Lenin statues—more than anywhere else in the former Soviet Union. Over the last two decades, the Ukrainian government has systematically removed them as part of decommunization, leaving just one statue standing at the entrance to Pripyat. This book tracks down and photographs these banned Soviet relics in gardens, scrapyards, and storage rooms. You can purchase it here

11. Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible - Welcome to the glittering, surreal heart of 21st-century Russia, where new money and new power are reshaping reality itself. As a British TV producer working in Russia’s booming entertainment industry, Peter Pomerantsev gains unparalleled access to the country’s inner workings. But as the Putin regime grows more aggressive, he finds himself drawn further into its unsettling system. You can purchase it here

12. The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History - In 1974, an unusual ship left Long Beach, California, equipped with a giant crane and experimental drilling equipment. Officially, it was a deep-sea mining vessel. In reality, it was part of a covert CIA operation to recover the Soviet nuclear submarine K-129, which had vanished six years earlier with 98 crew onboard. After searching over 1.3 million square kilometers of ocean, the Soviets gave up. The Americans did not. Read the full story here