In 1912, Russia experienced a flowering of liberalism and tolerance that placed it at

the forefront of the modern world: women were fighting for the right to vote in the

elections for the newly empowered parliament; Russian art and culture were the

envy of Europe; and there was a vibrant free press and intellectual life. But a fatal

flaw was left uncorrected—Russia’s exuberant experimental moment took place

atop a rotten foundation. The old imperial order, in place for three hundred years,

still held the nation in thrall. Russian journalist MIKHAIL ZYGAR, author of the book

The Empire Must Die, will talk to Pulitzer Prize-winning author LIAQUAT AHAMED

about how the collapse of the Russian Empire changed the course of the 20th

century and eerily anticipated the mood of the 21st and whether democracy can

ever exist in modern-day Russia.