Red Mecca

The first literary study of the Arab world’s Soviet entanglements, examining how Arabic writers have retold and reimagined their Soviet and Russian sojournsDuring the Cold War, tens of thousands of Arab students journeyed to study in the USSR, drawn by socialism’s red beacon or simply the chance to study abroad for free. For these students, the Soviet Union was not an Evil Empire but a Red Mecca—a relatively free third space, far from home and away from the influence of the West. In this groundb