BBC Proms - 2008 - Proms Literary Festival - Proms Literary Festival: Russian literature and current affairs

Susan Hitch is joined by the BBC's Diplomatic Correspondent Bridget Kendall to discuss how classic and contemporary Russian literature relates to issues and themes in the country's current affairs, focusing on what the writer Lermontov has to tell us about what changes and what remains the same in Russian life and Russian attitudes. A former BBC Moscow Correspondent, Bridget kept abreast not merely of the political situation in Russia but also the literary scene. She was an enthusiastic reader of the Russian classics and also has an enthusiasm for the more feisty contemporary literature, dipping briefly into the lighter end of the market with a very Russian take on chick lit.