A commune of library employees in Moscow created an “extreme” commune in which all clothing – including undergarments – was collectivized. According to Mehnert, if a communard preferred to wear his or her own underclothes...

Stalin was the most audible and powerful spokesman in the campaign against what he contemptuously called uravnilovka (leveling). His hostility – voiced in sarcastic and dismissive terms – was so deep and so clearly enunciated...