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Hotel Lux: An Intimate History of Communism's Forgotten Radicals
Shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards 2024: History Book of the Year
'Hotel Lux is an unforgettable book, bringing to life not only its protagonists but an entire world, and offering a new glimpse of a vanished past' Sally Rooney
'If affection is the first ground of memory, the archive is its late flowering and Hotel Lux its conservatory, Casey's history a tender nurture of pasts we overlook, but which whisper to us all the same' Irish Times
Hotel Lux follows Irish radical May O'Callaghan and her friends, three revolutionary families brought together by their vision for a communist future and their time spent in the Comintern's Moscow living quarters, the Hotel Lux.
Historian Maurice Casey reveals the connections and disconnections of a group of forgotten communist activists whose lives collided in 1920s a brilliant Irish translator, a maverick author, the rebel daughters of an East London Jewish family, and a family of determined German anti-fascists.
The dramatic and interlocking histories of the O'Flahertys, Cohens and Leonhards offer an intimate insight into the legacies of the Russian Revolution from its earliest idealism through to the brutal Stalinist purges and beyond. Hotel Lux uncovers a world of forgotten radicals who saw their hopes and dreams crash against reality yet retained their faith in a beautiful future for all.
Culminating in a queer love story that saw the daughters of the Cohens and Leonhards create an enduring partnership even as their parents' political visions crumbled, this is a multi-generational rebel odyssey and a history of international communism, one which looks as much to the future as it does to the past.
'Hotel Lux is an unforgettable book, bringing to life not only its protagonists but an entire world, and offering a new glimpse of a vanished past' Sally Rooney
'If affection is the first ground of memory, the archive is its late flowering and Hotel Lux its conservatory, Casey's history a tender nurture of pasts we overlook, but which whisper to us all the same' Irish Times
Hotel Lux follows Irish radical May O'Callaghan and her friends, three revolutionary families brought together by their vision for a communist future and their time spent in the Comintern's Moscow living quarters, the Hotel Lux.
Historian Maurice Casey reveals the connections and disconnections of a group of forgotten communist activists whose lives collided in 1920s a brilliant Irish translator, a maverick author, the rebel daughters of an East London Jewish family, and a family of determined German anti-fascists.
The dramatic and interlocking histories of the O'Flahertys, Cohens and Leonhards offer an intimate insight into the legacies of the Russian Revolution from its earliest idealism through to the brutal Stalinist purges and beyond. Hotel Lux uncovers a world of forgotten radicals who saw their hopes and dreams crash against reality yet retained their faith in a beautiful future for all.
Culminating in a queer love story that saw the daughters of the Cohens and Leonhards create an enduring partnership even as their parents' political visions crumbled, this is a multi-generational rebel odyssey and a history of international communism, one which looks as much to the future as it does to the past.
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Published August 26, 2024
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About the author
Maurice J. Casey
1 book8 followersMaurice J. Casey is a historian based at Queen’s University Belfast. His work focuses on the history of modern Ireland, queer history, and the history of international communism in the interwar world. He holds degrees from Trinity College Dublin, Cambridge University and the University of Oxford, where he completed his doctoral studies in 2020. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University from 2018 to 2019. His writing has appeared in a variety of publications including History Today, the Irish Times and Tribune magazine. Hotel Lux: An Intimate History of Communism’s Forgotten Radicals is his first book.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
September 5, 2025
Hotel Lux uncovers the forgotten lives of Irish women and others who worked for the Communist International in Moscow in the 1920s, bunking with revolutionaries from around the world at an overcrowded hotel.
A couple of years ago, Brigitte Studer's Travelers of World Revolution sounded like a history of the worker bees that kept the Comintern running, yet it relied heavily on the memoirs of second-tier leaders. Maurice J. Casey, in contrast, has managed to dig up stories of translators and typists whose traces had almost disappeared.
The main characters are three women: May O'Callaghan, an Irish revolutionary, and sisters Nellie and Rose Cohen from London's East End. They first met in Sylvia Pankhurst's suffragette movement in London, and followed her into the communist cause. Yet even while working at communism's global HQ, they weren't necessarily party members. This book presents their political struggles, but also romances, friendships, and family lives. O'Callaghan was connected to Soviet and Irish literary circles, so we also meet numerous radical writers. The story branches out to other characters as well, like the German Trotskyist Emmy Kaemmerer / Emmy Leonhardt, and her two daughters who grew up in exile.
Casey tells these stories while also recounting his attempts to uncover them — moving from the meticulously catalogued Comintern archives in Moscow to cardboard boxes full of old letters in Galician attics, across 25 archives in total. He reflects on the intellectual and emotional process of historical research, writing: "The people we research almost become our companions."
I feel very jealous of this book. When I wrote my biography of Martin Monath, I only described the process in a short introduction. This is because my book was an edited thesis. Casey, in contrast, wrote his PhD about Irish communist women, and then completely reworked the material for this much more personal story. My hat goes off to him for that.
A couple of years ago, Brigitte Studer's Travelers of World Revolution sounded like a history of the worker bees that kept the Comintern running, yet it relied heavily on the memoirs of second-tier leaders. Maurice J. Casey, in contrast, has managed to dig up stories of translators and typists whose traces had almost disappeared.
The main characters are three women: May O'Callaghan, an Irish revolutionary, and sisters Nellie and Rose Cohen from London's East End. They first met in Sylvia Pankhurst's suffragette movement in London, and followed her into the communist cause. Yet even while working at communism's global HQ, they weren't necessarily party members. This book presents their political struggles, but also romances, friendships, and family lives. O'Callaghan was connected to Soviet and Irish literary circles, so we also meet numerous radical writers. The story branches out to other characters as well, like the German Trotskyist Emmy Kaemmerer / Emmy Leonhardt, and her two daughters who grew up in exile.
Casey tells these stories while also recounting his attempts to uncover them — moving from the meticulously catalogued Comintern archives in Moscow to cardboard boxes full of old letters in Galician attics, across 25 archives in total. He reflects on the intellectual and emotional process of historical research, writing: "The people we research almost become our companions."
I feel very jealous of this book. When I wrote my biography of Martin Monath, I only described the process in a short introduction. This is because my book was an edited thesis. Casey, in contrast, wrote his PhD about Irish communist women, and then completely reworked the material for this much more personal story. My hat goes off to him for that.
August 17, 2024
This was an interesting history book about some lesser-known early communists, who all lived in, or socialised in, the Hotel Lux in Moscow in the 1920s. The Hotel Lux was anything but luxurious, but provided accommodation for many of the international band of idealists who worked with the Comintern to spread the communist revolution throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
The book focuses on the Irish woman, May O’Callaghan, and her close English/Jewish friends, sisters Nellie and Rose Cohen. It covers their friendships, relationships and eventual families as they moved around the world (Ireland, England, Russia, USA, Netherlands, France, Mexico, Switzerland, …) furthering the communist cause from the 1920s, through the Second World War, and how some of them fell foul of the increasingly dictatorial Soviet communist hierarchy under Stalin, though none gave up on their commitment to their communist ideals.
Communism appealed to people for different reasons. Many of those mentioned in the book sought freedom from national/international systems of persecution such as anti-Jewish Tsarist pogroms in Russia, colonialism, anti-queer legislation, misogyny, monarchy …. May and the Cohens met while working for the suffragettes in London. Initially, communism seemed to offer true equality for all, regardless of sex, race, birth, sexual orientation and nationality. Though, in practice, the promised freedoms became more and more restricted as the fight for control of the dialogue and the ultimate power-grab by Stalin closed down any opposition or diversity in thinking and activity.
I was shocked to hear that the communist opposition to the Nazis in Germany (which had been rather successful) was shut down by Stalin – well before his catastrophic pact with Hitler. Once German communists were permitted to oppose the Nazi rise to power, it was too late.
Other signs that the universal freedoms and equalities of a communist future were being diluted then shut down, slowly became apparent, but often were ignored or explained away by the devoted Comintern workers:
There was a lot to learn from this book. Although most of the characters mentioned are not well known at all, they interacted with some of the most famous and influential people of the twentieth century, and can justifiably claim a part in its history.
Around the world, communist regimes have been some of the most despicable, immoral and restrictive. But, so many of the rights and freedoms we enjoy today come from early communist ideals, and we can thank May and her friends for their tireless work and idealism.
It took me a while to get into the book, and initially I thought there was too much padding and repetition. But by the end I was fully invested in the lives of the main characters and had to know what their fates were to be.
Another important aspect of the book, was the author’s investigation into his subjects: how he came to trace their movements across the world, and across the decades; the importance of personal letters; official files; memories of descendants … For any budding historian, there is so much here to learn.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in twentieth century history, especially that of political movements. It is not a quick read, but definitely a worthwhile one.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by either the author or publisher.
“The conviction which carried people from around the world to ultimately converge on destinations like the Hotel Lux emerged, in part, from that belief in the possibility of a beautiful future that was vindicated for many by their own experiences of 1917.”
The book focuses on the Irish woman, May O’Callaghan, and her close English/Jewish friends, sisters Nellie and Rose Cohen. It covers their friendships, relationships and eventual families as they moved around the world (Ireland, England, Russia, USA, Netherlands, France, Mexico, Switzerland, …) furthering the communist cause from the 1920s, through the Second World War, and how some of them fell foul of the increasingly dictatorial Soviet communist hierarchy under Stalin, though none gave up on their commitment to their communist ideals.
“For May and many others whose stories have been told across these pages, Moscow’s Hotel Lux in the mid-1920s was the place and moment through which their entire lives flowed. So many of their relationships, ideas, sacrifices and compromises were determined by those years.”
Communism appealed to people for different reasons. Many of those mentioned in the book sought freedom from national/international systems of persecution such as anti-Jewish Tsarist pogroms in Russia, colonialism, anti-queer legislation, misogyny, monarchy …. May and the Cohens met while working for the suffragettes in London. Initially, communism seemed to offer true equality for all, regardless of sex, race, birth, sexual orientation and nationality. Though, in practice, the promised freedoms became more and more restricted as the fight for control of the dialogue and the ultimate power-grab by Stalin closed down any opposition or diversity in thinking and activity.
“Although Bolshevism never offered a coherent plan for liberating those whose sexual preferences transgressed social norms, communism’s broad appeal to the oppressed resonated with some queer people. Among the tsarist-era laws abolished after the Revolution was one criminalising sex between men. In March 1934 an all-Union decree against ‘sodomy’ made the USSR the first state in modern history to recriminalise homosexual acts. Rose Cohen found herself working alongside men who once more found their sexuality the target of state laws in the very place they had sought sanctuary.”
I was shocked to hear that the communist opposition to the Nazis in Germany (which had been rather successful) was shut down by Stalin – well before his catastrophic pact with Hitler. Once German communists were permitted to oppose the Nazi rise to power, it was too late.
Other signs that the universal freedoms and equalities of a communist future were being diluted then shut down, slowly became apparent, but often were ignored or explained away by the devoted Comintern workers:
“Party members understood that the future of abundance for all was being worked towards, but it had not yet arrived. In the time of struggle towards communism, certain privileges needed to be granted to those carrying out the most important work.”
“A non-communist observer could baulk at the use of slave labour in Belomor, but someone committed to the idea that the ‘general line’ was ultimately correct could soothe their conscience by deferring to the external authority of the Party and imbibing the propaganda about ‘reforging’ errant citizens.”
“According to the official data of the Soviet secret police, the number of convictions for political crimes from 1921 to 1941 was more than three million, with 1,817,496 people placed in prison or sent to the Gulag during this same period. One historian’s estimate for the number of executions carried out from 1937–8 alone puts the number at approximately one million.”
There was a lot to learn from this book. Although most of the characters mentioned are not well known at all, they interacted with some of the most famous and influential people of the twentieth century, and can justifiably claim a part in its history.
Around the world, communist regimes have been some of the most despicable, immoral and restrictive. But, so many of the rights and freedoms we enjoy today come from early communist ideals, and we can thank May and her friends for their tireless work and idealism.
It took me a while to get into the book, and initially I thought there was too much padding and repetition. But by the end I was fully invested in the lives of the main characters and had to know what their fates were to be.
Another important aspect of the book, was the author’s investigation into his subjects: how he came to trace their movements across the world, and across the decades; the importance of personal letters; official files; memories of descendants … For any budding historian, there is so much here to learn.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in twentieth century history, especially that of political movements. It is not a quick read, but definitely a worthwhile one.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by either the author or publisher.
January 18, 2025
3.75 ⭐️ I am not a huge history reader so started this book on the promise of a lesbian love story alone but was held by the author’s unique style of writing! I’ve seen other reviewers comment they didn’t like the way the author segued into personal stories of his experiences researching and writing this book - I LOVED it. Could probably be convinced to read his other writings because of it. He was definitely losing me as he got into the deeper analysis of Soviet policies and history but I was holding on for that lesbian element which came in the last 10% of the book. I was also a little confused by the constant jumping forward and backwards in time - I wish the story was written a little more chronologically even if this affected the flow of the characters life stories. Really recommend this!
September 14, 2024
The establishment of the title was home for a period to various revolutionaries from various countries. This is a story of revolution, friendship, sapphism, activism and politics. I had come across some of these people before but not so indepth. An interesting take on the time period.
March 18, 2025
I listened to the audiobook version from my local library and due to the stilted way the author reads his work, it was really hard to get into.
October 5, 2024
‘Hotel Lux’ is a gripping, illuminating, humanising read. The author deftly shepherds you through the story of a multigenerational web of relationships, spanning many decades, whose nexus was a few years in the early 1920s at the book’s namesake hotel in Moscow (imagine a Chelsea Hotel but instead of strung out rockstars, highly-strung Marxist revolutionaries). Evident on every page – nearly in every paragraph – is the thoroughness, doggedness, and originality of the author’s research that allowed him reconstruct this story, whose fragments up until this book’s writing were scattered into many far corners/archives/attics/garden sheds around the world. Reading it, I would regularly mutter ‘no way’ under my breath as I learnt about the extraordinariness or sheer improbability of some of the historical events and relationships the author recounts, as well as the heroic lengths he went to in order to discover them.
Finally, the book embodies a view of history that I found refreshing in its humanity. This is a story about exceptional – but accessible – individuals, many of them outcasts from their circumstances of origin, who found common cause in a vision of a fairer, more just world. And perhaps even more importantly, they found meaning in their relationships with each other. As a reader, you are left with an overpowering sense of the primacy of human agency and affection as the engines and conduits of history. Long after the specific details of the book have faded from my mind, I am sure the memory of that way of viewing the world will remain.
Finally, the book embodies a view of history that I found refreshing in its humanity. This is a story about exceptional – but accessible – individuals, many of them outcasts from their circumstances of origin, who found common cause in a vision of a fairer, more just world. And perhaps even more importantly, they found meaning in their relationships with each other. As a reader, you are left with an overpowering sense of the primacy of human agency and affection as the engines and conduits of history. Long after the specific details of the book have faded from my mind, I am sure the memory of that way of viewing the world will remain.
September 26, 2024
This was a totally different book from that which I expected. It captures in great detail the lives of, what some may consider, a not significant or collection of minor figures of early 20th century radicals, committedly working for the revolution and living and gathering in a decaying over-crowded luxury hotel in central Moscow. Which the author tells us from the outset was his purpose, to give names to the many, usually unnamed, who actually made it happen.
It follows their various lives and political directions through the century in an epic and painstakingly researched work of the greatest political ambition of the last century. It is for a history book riveting as it follows closely the attituded of these largely young radicals exploring life as viewed through the lens of Marxism including their attitude to sex and marriage, which not unexpectedly mirrored the propensities of any group of young people cloistered closely. And the rise and betrayal of Stalin and how this impacted on their lives, in face of the growing threat of Nazi Germany.
In some ways the Hotel Lux was a modern "House Of The Seven Gables".
It follows their various lives and political directions through the century in an epic and painstakingly researched work of the greatest political ambition of the last century. It is for a history book riveting as it follows closely the attituded of these largely young radicals exploring life as viewed through the lens of Marxism including their attitude to sex and marriage, which not unexpectedly mirrored the propensities of any group of young people cloistered closely. And the rise and betrayal of Stalin and how this impacted on their lives, in face of the growing threat of Nazi Germany.
In some ways the Hotel Lux was a modern "House Of The Seven Gables".
October 5, 2025
I had never heard of the Hotel Lux before. While not luxurious, it was an important building in the early 20th century, serving as a housing community in Moscow for many people from around the world, all interested in the same thing: Communism. The story mainly follows May O'Callaghan, sisters Rose and Nellie Cohen, and Emmy Leonhard, though it does talk about many others that each of the women interacted with. They each hail from difference places, but their belief in Communism brings them all to Moscow at different points in their lives to do different things for the cause. The book moves through each of the women's lives, focusing mostly on the 1920's when they all lived there, but moving on when each left and took a different path. We can see the effects the war and other events had on each of them, as they all ended up with vastly different lives after their time in the Lux.
The author definitely did his due diligence in bringing this all to life. In between the tales he tells, he speaks of the research he had to do to uncover the truth and events that transpired. There was much flying around the world - to Russia to search archives and visit places where events took place, Ireland to track down family and neighbors who knew May, and a several years long search that eventually led to Galicia to meet the grandson of Emmy Leonhard. Throughout his searching, he discovers much more than he expected, as many letters and documents were kept stored away by the family members All these items and discussions with people who knew and interacted with each of the women help to paint a vivid picture of their lives.
The story can get a bit dry at times with all the info dumping, but it is still a very interesting look at an important time in history.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The author definitely did his due diligence in bringing this all to life. In between the tales he tells, he speaks of the research he had to do to uncover the truth and events that transpired. There was much flying around the world - to Russia to search archives and visit places where events took place, Ireland to track down family and neighbors who knew May, and a several years long search that eventually led to Galicia to meet the grandson of Emmy Leonhard. Throughout his searching, he discovers much more than he expected, as many letters and documents were kept stored away by the family members All these items and discussions with people who knew and interacted with each of the women help to paint a vivid picture of their lives.
The story can get a bit dry at times with all the info dumping, but it is still a very interesting look at an important time in history.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
January 2, 2025
Once I got started with this one, I tore through it in just a few days. I found the humanistic storytelling, so fresh and compelling. The lives contained in this book are so close to the surface and easy to connect to. I found this book originally through a bluesky thread about a newsletter written by two young sisters to keep their parents up-to-date with their doings, and it absolutely fulfilled that promise. I found myself deeply moved by the many shows of comradeship and solidarity in these women’s lives.
Strongly recommended.
Strongly recommended.
August 14, 2025
One of the best books I’ve read in a while. An incredibly intimate history of these lesser known radicals told in such a unique and profound way. The sources the author was able to find were incredible and offer such a close connection to the people we follow through some of the darkest points in European history yet love and hope is always present
January 5, 2026
Loved this book. It was an Xmas gift from my brother in Dublin.
Hotel Lux describes the overlooked lives of Irish women and others who worked for the Communist International in Moscow in the 1920s. They stayed with other radicals and revolutionaries from all over the world at a basic hotel, Hotel Lux, that was teeming with people.
The main characters are May O'Callaghan, an Irish revolutionary, and Nellie and Rose Cohen from the East End of London. They met in Sylvia Pankhurst's suffragette movement in London. Hotel Lux sets out their political struggles, romantic, partnerships, friendships, and their family lives.
May was connected to both Soviet and Irish literary circles. Other radical writers like the German Trotskyist Emmy Kaemmerer / Emmy Leonhardt, and her daughters also feature.
Maurice Casey obviously did Trojan work in digging out these stories from various sources like Comintern archives in Moscow, to boxes of old letters in attics, etc.
“For May and many others whose stories have been told across these pages, Moscow’s Hotel Lux in the mid-1920s was the place and moment through which their entire lives flowed. So many of their relationships, ideas, sacrifices and compromises were determined by those years.”
Communism appealed to people for varying reasons. For example, those seeking freedom from national/international systems of persecution such as anti-Jewish Tsarist pogroms in Russia, colonialism, anti-queer legislation, misogyny, and monarchy
May and the Cohen sisters initially believed that communism appeared to offer equality for all. In reality, Stalin soon stamped out opposition or diversity in thinking. The communist opposition to the Nazis in Germany was clamped down upon by Stalin. The loyal Comintern workers were inclined to be in denial about this fact and about other freedoms and equalities being dispensed with.
Hotel Lux follows the lives and political directions of the characters through the century. This is a very engaging book that I’d recommend to others who are interested in those ordinary people from so many different backgrounds and countries who espoused Communism.
Hotel Lux describes the overlooked lives of Irish women and others who worked for the Communist International in Moscow in the 1920s. They stayed with other radicals and revolutionaries from all over the world at a basic hotel, Hotel Lux, that was teeming with people.
The main characters are May O'Callaghan, an Irish revolutionary, and Nellie and Rose Cohen from the East End of London. They met in Sylvia Pankhurst's suffragette movement in London. Hotel Lux sets out their political struggles, romantic, partnerships, friendships, and their family lives.
May was connected to both Soviet and Irish literary circles. Other radical writers like the German Trotskyist Emmy Kaemmerer / Emmy Leonhardt, and her daughters also feature.
Maurice Casey obviously did Trojan work in digging out these stories from various sources like Comintern archives in Moscow, to boxes of old letters in attics, etc.
“For May and many others whose stories have been told across these pages, Moscow’s Hotel Lux in the mid-1920s was the place and moment through which their entire lives flowed. So many of their relationships, ideas, sacrifices and compromises were determined by those years.”
Communism appealed to people for varying reasons. For example, those seeking freedom from national/international systems of persecution such as anti-Jewish Tsarist pogroms in Russia, colonialism, anti-queer legislation, misogyny, and monarchy
May and the Cohen sisters initially believed that communism appeared to offer equality for all. In reality, Stalin soon stamped out opposition or diversity in thinking. The communist opposition to the Nazis in Germany was clamped down upon by Stalin. The loyal Comintern workers were inclined to be in denial about this fact and about other freedoms and equalities being dispensed with.
Hotel Lux follows the lives and political directions of the characters through the century. This is a very engaging book that I’d recommend to others who are interested in those ordinary people from so many different backgrounds and countries who espoused Communism.
January 14, 2025
I know it’s early days, but this riveting book is definitely going to be one of my highlights of 2025. So much I never knew – even though I’m a confirmed Russophile and student of all things Russian – and so many people I’d never heard of. I discovered them all in this richly researched history of the storied Hotel Lux in Moscow in the turbulent 1920s and its assorted residents. The hotel was the hub for revolutionaries of various stripes, all eager to support the communist cause, a diverse group united by a shared commitment to the Bolshevik Revolution. Full of idealism when they arrived, they could not have foreseen the dark days of Stalin’s purges of the 1930s, to which some of them fell victim. Casey vividly describes the atmosphere in the hotel and gives an equally vivid portrait of the time and place. A key figure in the narrative is May O'Callaghan, an Irish radical, and I was intrigued to consider the links between the Irish Uprising of 1916 and the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Far- reaching in its scope this is a truly compelling book, totally absorbing and I couldn’t put it down. An essential read for anyone interested in Russia’s history and politics as well as in the lives of the many foreigners who took the revolutionary cause to heart.
July 26, 2024
I'll admit it wasn't immediately clear to me that his was a non-fiction book. It was some pages in before I realised the writing style was not a 'quirky' way of framing a story, but instead the recounting of an actual historian finding these things out!
I think that added to the difficulty of me 'getting into' the book as this isn't my usual type at all. But I'm glad I persevered as I really feel like I learned a lot that I otherwise wouldn't have ever known.
It gave me a great appreciation not only for the people mentioned and their journey but also the process of historians themselves. I've never considered how we go about finding all these details!
Worth it for something different and fleshing out these unknown areas of our histories
---
Thanks to Footnote Press and NetGalley for the ARC
I think that added to the difficulty of me 'getting into' the book as this isn't my usual type at all. But I'm glad I persevered as I really feel like I learned a lot that I otherwise wouldn't have ever known.
It gave me a great appreciation not only for the people mentioned and their journey but also the process of historians themselves. I've never considered how we go about finding all these details!
Worth it for something different and fleshing out these unknown areas of our histories
---
Thanks to Footnote Press and NetGalley for the ARC
October 13, 2024
This is a fascinating and incredible story. An unlikely mix of individuals, an Irish radical, an East End Jewish family and German anti fascists. All are communist activists in the early 29th century whose lives cross in Moscow at the Hotel Lux. The Russian Revolution has passed and the early idealism is as yet untouched by the brutality of Stalinism. A forgotten period, evocative and at the heart of the tale is an unlikely love story. An amazing and original insight into ordinary lives which I really enjoyed. Well written and very readable.
September 4, 2025
This is one of the best books I've read all decade. An excellent piece of history writing that contains enough human drama to do an epic, except some of it is so exceptional that you'd never believe it. I like how a lot of it is Casey's own journey as a historian, the thrill of the hunt one gets while doing research. It also touches on all sorts of issues re. revolutionary left / emancipatiory politics and praxis, it's truly intersectional in the best way. Reads very well too. I cannot recommend this highly enough.
April 19, 2025
A love letter to historical research. This book represents a really cool research journey and an important and interesting period of history, but it did get a little dry. I listened to the audio, and definitely feel like I missed a bunch of stuff just because there was SO much information. Not as queer as I was hoping, based on the intro, but it did get there in the end!
May 15, 2025
The best parts of this book are the sections most closely grounded in the Hotel Lux itself. The fascinating biographies of an understudied group of people at a crucial time in revolutionary history really shine, and I would have loved to learn more about the hotel itself and the larger context in which these people's fates unfolded.
October 26, 2024
Fun read, really brings to life the lives of the ones who have passed. Sadly the author goes into Personal experience and anecdotes on how the book was written quite often. These feel unnecessary and can be a bit of a nuisance, but overall its a nice read
June 26, 2025
“We can and should commit ourselves to building a more just world…dreaming of something better and mobilizing towards that dream is not only necessary, but an irrepressible human trait.” - Maurice J. Casey
September 27, 2025
A wide-ranging social and political history of interwar Europe, and the impact on communism which resulted from Stalin instead of Trotsky taking over after the death of Lenin. Told through the lives and loves of the residents of Moscow’s Hotel Lux. Exceptionally well researched.
September 18, 2024
Amazing read of a fascinating period in history
Read
October 9, 2024DNF at 4%
January 19, 2025
Not a review as such but highly recommend
January 23, 2025
A bit too much like a PhD work for my taste. Still interesting if a bit fragmented
September 29, 2025
A well researched and recounted storey of the individuals who make history.
November 30, 2025
Detailed
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews