He… received a steady stream of books on extended loan from libraries in St Petersburg and Moscow, via the good offices of his sisters, to supply his voracious appetite for reading. Despite his frustrations with the speed of the postal system (it took about thirty-five days to send a letter to the capital and receive a reply), Lenin devoured texts on politics, economics, industrial history, agriculture and statistics, and…. left Siberia at the beginning of 1900, (with) 225 kilogrammes of books…. Lenin bombarded his mother and sisters with requests for creature comforts: warm socks, a mackintosh cape for when he went hunting. He needed a straw hat and kid gloves …. When not immersed in study, Lenin (liked) hunting and skating with the dozen or so fellow exiles…. By the end of 1897 his companions were commenting on how he had put on weight, and that his healthy suntan made him look ‘just like a Siberian’.

Beer, Daniel. The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars (Kindle Locations 6442-6446). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

Beer, Daniel. The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars (Kindle Locations 6434-6441). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

Chris