Liberalism and the Idea of Russia

Abstract

Vasilii Rozanov once shared the following observation with his readers, adding his characteristic commentary:

An old man, about sixty years old, "a very serious man" from Novgorod Province, voiced the opinion that "the former tsar's skin should be removed one strip at a time"; that is, his skin should not be tom from him all at once, as the Indians did with scalps, but should be cut from him strip by strip, in the Russian way.