The Commissar Vanishes offers a chilling look at how Joseph Stalin manipulated the science of photography to advance his own political career and to erase the memory of his victims. On Stalin's orders, purged rivals were airbrushed from group portraits, and crowd scenes were altered to depict even greater legions of the faithful. For example, a 1919 photograph showing a large crowd of Bolsheviks clustered around Lenin, became, with the aid of the retoucher, an intimate portrait of Lenin and Stalin sitting alone, and then, in a later version, of Stalin by himself. In each case, the juxtaposition of the original and the doctored images yields a fascinating — and often terrifying and tragic — insight into one of the darkest chapters of modern history.

This book has been designed for adult students studying ESOL at schools and colleges in the United Kingdom. It is also ideal for students who are interested in learning grammar in the context of UK culture. The material take the key grammatical structures at Entry Levels 1 and 2 from the Adult ESOL core curriculum as its basis. The rationale underlying the book is to make grammar accessible, relevant and memorable. A bold and eyecatching design have been used to reinforce these three aspects of the book. Key features of the course include: — 30 units matching the ESOL curriculum; — accessible explanations; — attractive full-colour format; — graded practice activities; — focus on language patterns; — contextualized language; — communicative interaction and genuine language development; — database of essential topic-based vocabulary; — accommodation of student differentiation; — for class study, self-study, or for home reference; — includes full answer key.