For centuries we have been haunted by tales, real and imagined, of children raised in the wild. Michael Newton on the roots of our fascination with untamed spirits
In the years since the fall of communism, as the social fabric of Russia fell apart, street children became a common sight in Moscow and St Petersburg. Like the homeless in London, they were both ever present and subtly invisible – a backdrop to city life; an irritating intrusion on the process of simply getting on with things. But one of these Moscow street kids was different. He was actually to find the visibility that had so long been denied to him.