What do you think?
Rate this book
Annals of Communism
Piggy Foxy and the Sword of Revolution: Bolshevik Self-Portraits
What did the rulers of the Soviet Union truly think about each other? Piggy Foxy and the Sword of Revolution provides a window onto the soul of Bolshevism no other set of materials has ever offered. Sketching on notebook pages, official letterheads, and the margins of draft documents, prominent Soviet leaders in the 1920s and 1930s amused themselves and their colleagues with drawings of one another. Nearly 200 of these informal sketches, only recently uncovered in secret Soviet files are reproduced here. Funny, original, spontaneous, sometimes vicious or grotesque, the drawings and their accompanying notes reveal the relationships and mindsets of the Bolshevik bosses at the time of Stalin’s rise to power with blazing immediacy.
The album’s editors select characteristic drawings by such prominent leaders as Nikolai Bukharin, who depicts himself as “piggy foxy,” Valery Mezhlauk, and Stalin himself, whose trademark blue pencil appears on several of the drawings. A number of sketches of unknown authorship are also included. The editors identify the political issues, events, and discussions that inspired the drawings, and they provide biographical information about the people who drew and were drawn. The book opens a rare window on Stalin’s inner circle, allowing us access to the powerful men who, despite living in a humorless epoch, developed a special humor of their own.
The album’s editors select characteristic drawings by such prominent leaders as Nikolai Bukharin, who depicts himself as “piggy foxy,” Valery Mezhlauk, and Stalin himself, whose trademark blue pencil appears on several of the drawings. A number of sketches of unknown authorship are also included. The editors identify the political issues, events, and discussions that inspired the drawings, and they provide biographical information about the people who drew and were drawn. The book opens a rare window on Stalin’s inner circle, allowing us access to the powerful men who, despite living in a humorless epoch, developed a special humor of their own.
205 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2006
1 person is currently reading
77 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 5, 2025
Friendly 'doodles' that make fun of your piers...until Stalin put an end to it. This book offers a rare glimpse into what the early Bolshevik leaders really thought of each other; it is brutally honest as it was never meant to be published in any way. Add up how many were put to death - truly a chilling book that reminds us of what oppression really is.
March 9, 2009
A real-life, pitch-black comedy--sinister, hilarious, sad and altogether riveting. Some of these Politburo guys were fairly gifted doodlers, but many of the drawings radiate both psychosexual pathology and an anxiety so intense that it's a little hard to look at them, given what lies ahead for most of the "artists." Possibly the most extreme example ever of the maxim, "It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt."
December 4, 2019
Compilation of primary sources that have potential to be used. I used part of the cartoons for a graduate seminar on Stalinism to comment upon the nuances of Soviet cult culture. Drawings on Soviet Head of State, Kalinin, are quite funny, 'derisive' and ironic. Serves to show the artificiality of his symbol. Kalinin was more of a decorative figure in the high echelons of Soviet power. Stalin kept him to cloak his rule with benevolence.
August 6, 2018
“The history of the Bolsheviks during the brutal turbulence of their long revolution, from the seizure of power and October 1917 through the Civil War and collectivization, up to the ritual cannibalism of the Great Terror, is as absurd as it is grim. Its tragedy is made for satires yet defies caricature, for its madness seems beyond humor.”
“Not only most of the subjects but most of the artists were shot on Joseph Stalin‘s orders during the Terror.”
“The archives reveal the constant joshing and joking in Politburo meetings in which notes were constantly sent around the table and often Stalin himself took part. Only in 1937 did this collegial political world disappear forever.”
“The cartoonist, leaders themselves like Nikolai Bukharin and Valery Mezhlauk, mock the vanities of their comrades in witty and sophisticated jokes and often obscene language and images: among so much political jargon and tough bargaining, we see hilarious images of castrations and genital dismemberment.”
“But Valery Mezhlauk’s superb drawings in the 1930s are brilliant illustrations of the darkening sky: Stalin and his henchmen became increasingly furious about and frustrated by the economic problems and mechanical blunders, blaming their financial specialist. The experts were accused of corruption, double-dealing, and “wrecking”.
“That demonstrates how these caricatures are so much more than just cartoons sketched at boring Gosplan meetings. They unforgettably tell the tale of an entire epoch.”
Simon Sebag Montefiore
———————————————————
“These “funny pictures” are an unexpected legacy from the creators of such a dismal era. What inspired this creative process? We can speculate endlessly, but we will never know for sure.”
“In contrast to more official discourse, these drawings reflect the spontaneous and sincere responses of the communist leaders to particular events: they contain much less of the falseness and sycophancy that strongly colored the behavior of the Soviet elite in the late 1930s.”
“It was a specific humor developed for internal use, hidden for many decades between the covers of special files.”
———————————————————
“It goes without saying these cartoons do not belong to the category of great art, though their creators displayed, to varying degrees, some artistic skill. The drawings are more important as visual memories then as artistic achievements.”
“In one drawing Bukharin pictured himself as a “piggy foxy”. There are a few piggish traits in the image, but quite a lot of foxiness: sharp nose and ears, bushy tail, and so on. We may never know what prompted Bukharin to depict himself like that, but ironically it accurately predicted his fate. In March 1938, Procurator General Andrei Vyshinsky thundered at the third show trial: “What about Bukharin, this vile mix of a fox and a swine, how did he behave in this regard? As it becomes a fox and a swine.” What a tragic consonance!”
——————————————————
“The 15th party Congress (in December 1927) was no longer a platform for equal representation. The oppositionists who dared to speak were subjected to obstruction, hissed at, and literally chased off the podium.”
“Stalin is still merely “conducting the will of the party”, as he prepares to whip the oppositionists, who readily lower their pants. Later this image would require a different, darker meaning, and many of the party members who stood behind Stalin fell victim to his web.”
“Thus a poisonous mixture of truth and lies assisted Stalin in the liquidization of his former comrades. They were accused first of various deviations, then of wrecking, and finally, of terror and espionage.”
———————————————————
“Several pictures serve as illustrations of the gradual empowerment of Stalin in the early 1930s. The secretary general enjoyed extemporaneously asking questions that were not on the Politburo agenda, often in order to humiliate his comrades. It was his way of showing who was really the master of the house.”
“In contrast with the caricatures from the turbulent 1920s, drawings in this section of the album have one thing in common: there is no enemy in them. The artists are indulgent towards their subjects, at worst portray them as confused or simple-minded blunderers.”
“This sense of solidarity among the Soviet elite of the 1930s increasingly irritated Stalin and became one of the catalyst of the mass purges.”
———————————————————
“ this album contains only a small sample of the drawings related to the economy. Most of them addressed very specific issues that never appear in the official documents. Deciphering the meaning of these images is as fascinating as reading fragmented ancient sources, and it is possible only through comprehensive analysis of their historical context.”
“The search by trial and error for new forms of centralized economic administration inevitably lead to mistakes, failures to fulfill the plan, and costly accidents. In order to avoid taking political responsibility for inefficient management, the top leaders preferred to look for criminal intent as a possible explanation.”
“Departments and ministries became appanage principalities controlling various industries, and fear became the main motivation for achieving the best results.”
———————————————————
“The February-March 1937 plenum marked the beginning of the Great Terror, with renewed attacks on enemies and the right opposition. In particular, Bukharin and Rykov were accused of plotting conspiracies and were subjected to badgering and humiliation.”
“It is significant that the gallery of drawings ends with the February-March Central Committee Plenum, which ushered in mass repression.”
“Fear and insecurity generated the desire to play it safe, to reinsure one’s position with abundant lies and flattery. Those close to Stalin strove to guess his secret intentions in order to anticipate them.”
“Beria’s notes on them show that the new NKVD chief, knowing about Voroshilov‘s fondness for caricatures, was sending him pictures from Mezhlauk file. This saved some of his works, but the bulk of the cartoons from the Bolshevik Olympus vanished without a trace.”
Alexander Vatlin and Larisa Malashenko
“Not only most of the subjects but most of the artists were shot on Joseph Stalin‘s orders during the Terror.”
“The archives reveal the constant joshing and joking in Politburo meetings in which notes were constantly sent around the table and often Stalin himself took part. Only in 1937 did this collegial political world disappear forever.”
“The cartoonist, leaders themselves like Nikolai Bukharin and Valery Mezhlauk, mock the vanities of their comrades in witty and sophisticated jokes and often obscene language and images: among so much political jargon and tough bargaining, we see hilarious images of castrations and genital dismemberment.”
“But Valery Mezhlauk’s superb drawings in the 1930s are brilliant illustrations of the darkening sky: Stalin and his henchmen became increasingly furious about and frustrated by the economic problems and mechanical blunders, blaming their financial specialist. The experts were accused of corruption, double-dealing, and “wrecking”.
“That demonstrates how these caricatures are so much more than just cartoons sketched at boring Gosplan meetings. They unforgettably tell the tale of an entire epoch.”
Simon Sebag Montefiore
———————————————————
“These “funny pictures” are an unexpected legacy from the creators of such a dismal era. What inspired this creative process? We can speculate endlessly, but we will never know for sure.”
“In contrast to more official discourse, these drawings reflect the spontaneous and sincere responses of the communist leaders to particular events: they contain much less of the falseness and sycophancy that strongly colored the behavior of the Soviet elite in the late 1930s.”
“It was a specific humor developed for internal use, hidden for many decades between the covers of special files.”
———————————————————
“It goes without saying these cartoons do not belong to the category of great art, though their creators displayed, to varying degrees, some artistic skill. The drawings are more important as visual memories then as artistic achievements.”
“In one drawing Bukharin pictured himself as a “piggy foxy”. There are a few piggish traits in the image, but quite a lot of foxiness: sharp nose and ears, bushy tail, and so on. We may never know what prompted Bukharin to depict himself like that, but ironically it accurately predicted his fate. In March 1938, Procurator General Andrei Vyshinsky thundered at the third show trial: “What about Bukharin, this vile mix of a fox and a swine, how did he behave in this regard? As it becomes a fox and a swine.” What a tragic consonance!”
——————————————————
“The 15th party Congress (in December 1927) was no longer a platform for equal representation. The oppositionists who dared to speak were subjected to obstruction, hissed at, and literally chased off the podium.”
“Stalin is still merely “conducting the will of the party”, as he prepares to whip the oppositionists, who readily lower their pants. Later this image would require a different, darker meaning, and many of the party members who stood behind Stalin fell victim to his web.”
“Thus a poisonous mixture of truth and lies assisted Stalin in the liquidization of his former comrades. They were accused first of various deviations, then of wrecking, and finally, of terror and espionage.”
———————————————————
“Several pictures serve as illustrations of the gradual empowerment of Stalin in the early 1930s. The secretary general enjoyed extemporaneously asking questions that were not on the Politburo agenda, often in order to humiliate his comrades. It was his way of showing who was really the master of the house.”
“In contrast with the caricatures from the turbulent 1920s, drawings in this section of the album have one thing in common: there is no enemy in them. The artists are indulgent towards their subjects, at worst portray them as confused or simple-minded blunderers.”
“This sense of solidarity among the Soviet elite of the 1930s increasingly irritated Stalin and became one of the catalyst of the mass purges.”
———————————————————
“ this album contains only a small sample of the drawings related to the economy. Most of them addressed very specific issues that never appear in the official documents. Deciphering the meaning of these images is as fascinating as reading fragmented ancient sources, and it is possible only through comprehensive analysis of their historical context.”
“The search by trial and error for new forms of centralized economic administration inevitably lead to mistakes, failures to fulfill the plan, and costly accidents. In order to avoid taking political responsibility for inefficient management, the top leaders preferred to look for criminal intent as a possible explanation.”
“Departments and ministries became appanage principalities controlling various industries, and fear became the main motivation for achieving the best results.”
———————————————————
“The February-March 1937 plenum marked the beginning of the Great Terror, with renewed attacks on enemies and the right opposition. In particular, Bukharin and Rykov were accused of plotting conspiracies and were subjected to badgering and humiliation.”
“It is significant that the gallery of drawings ends with the February-March Central Committee Plenum, which ushered in mass repression.”
“Fear and insecurity generated the desire to play it safe, to reinsure one’s position with abundant lies and flattery. Those close to Stalin strove to guess his secret intentions in order to anticipate them.”
“Beria’s notes on them show that the new NKVD chief, knowing about Voroshilov‘s fondness for caricatures, was sending him pictures from Mezhlauk file. This saved some of his works, but the bulk of the cartoons from the Bolshevik Olympus vanished without a trace.”
Alexander Vatlin and Larisa Malashenko
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews