We tend to imagine sounds as naturally housed by letters of an alphabet. But sometimes the shapes given to sounds can be more like a prison than a place to call home. Between 1927 and 1991, the languages of 25 million peoples in the Soviet empire changed alphabets once, twice, and sometimes even three times.

An interactive musical sound book, Azbuka Strikes Back offers kids and adults alike a whirlwind tour of ABCs and anticolonialism in the former Soviet sphere.