Peace with Russia, as in Soviet times, has always been unpalatable but necessary.

Dmitri Volkogonov’s histories contributed significantly to the delegitimization of the Soviet regime in the eyes of ordinary Russians by exposing the naked terror which underpinned the USSR.

But it’s important for the souls of democracies that, even as they must make nasty accommodations in pursuit of a wider good, that they fully admit to themselves this reality, without self-delusion.