Outbreak

In 1983, when HIV was discovered, Soviet propaganda labeled it as the «virus of drug addicts and homosexuals» and accused American intelligence services of its creation. Facts were suppressed, contraception and sex education in a country where «there is no sex» were unavailable. «Outbreak» is a documentary portrait of late Soviet society against the backdrop of the unfolding epidemic. The heroes of this book are doctors, activists, scientists, journalists, and ordinary people who encountered the dangerous virus and perceived it as a common misfortune from which it was impossible to isolate themselves. As a result, HIV outlived the state that sought to ignore it. The book by historian Irina Roldugina and cultural scholar Ekaterina Suverina is based on numerous archival sources, eyewitness testimonies, and press from that time. The text is accompanied by illustrations - posters, collages, and photographs, some of which are published for the first time.