This is a short excerpt from the first-ever English translation (by Robert and Elizabeth Chandler) of Grossman’s epic novel of the turning point in World War II.

After years of threatening to ban cheap dormitory-like hostels and any other accomodation in residential buildings, Russian lawmakers have approved a measure that could cause many private individuals to stop renting out beds, driving up lodging costs for young travelers.

Other assorted items from around the Russian world.

An excerpt from the fine new novel Zuleikha, by Guzel Yakhina, about a woman's survival in Siberia exile, inspired by childhood memories of the author's grandmother.

"A classical authoritarian power... does not pay that much attention to what the population thinks, and when it does, this attention is usually limited to a bunch of platitudes loudly proclaimed as the official ideology..."

A poem from the new volume Alcestis of the Underworld, by a regular translator of works published by Russian Life Books.

A mysterious tragedy that killed nine students in the Urals in 1959 is suddenly making headlines in Russia.

News, tidbits and statistics from around Russia.

A poem by Maxim Amelin, translated by Derek Mong and Anne O. Fisher.

Nikita Khrushchev’s great granddaughter, Nina Khrushcheva, and an expat living and reporting on Russia and the Soviet Union since 1993, Jeffrey Tayler, offer a poignant exploration of the largest country on earth.

W.W. Norton has released a new translation, by Michael Katz, of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic novel. We excerpt here the novel’s opening.

Catherine the Great was a prolific letter writer and her missives offer a uniquely intimate view of her personal life and political development (to say nothing of her humor and passion).