Twenty-five years ago, when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, it was a time of hope and relief. Since the 1940s we had held our breath, limping from crisis to crisis, hoping that Dr. Strangelove was not hiding in a dark corner, waiting to make his play.

A social state, a sense of community and shared decision making, an oddly distant government, home-grown values, and being split between Europe and Asia – according to Russians, this is what makes Russia special. But Boris Dubin's findings show that what really makes Russia special is Russia's ability to pretend no one else exists.

In honor of the International Day of the Translator, a few words from Boris Pasternak, the Russian voice of Shakespeare, on translating and the power of English.

So, one thing about publishing is that not all the books come out perfect. So, rather than toss a few "seconds" in the recycle bin, we decided to hold a contest. Winners got free, slightly irregular books. We had fun reading the responses.

We asked Ivan Kobilyakov, whose story on filming wild wolves in Putorana appeared in the Sep/Oct 2014 issue of Russian Life, to give us an update on the project and how filming has gone this summer. He also supplied new photos.

When you're a Soviet dictator, it's rare that you get the chance to tour the US, visiting movie sets, meat freezers, and steel mills, being featured on TV, and laughing at angry farmers. Nikita Khrushchev got that chance 55 years ago. And he made the most of it.

What with downed passenger airlines, war in Ukraine, trade embargos and rapidly worsening US-Russian relations, why in the world is there a picture of a giraffe on the cover of Russian Life magazine? 

Did you know September 1 is more than just Labor Day? Read on to find out how Russians celebrate September 1, the Day of Knowledge, the first day of school.

A third excerpt from Alexei Bayer's mystery novel Murder at the Dacha. Inspector Matushkin visits a suburban police station and witnesses some "enhanced interrogation techniques" gone wrong.

Late July and early August were busy times in 1914: not only was Russia's own heir apparent celebrating his 10th birthday, the world was devolving into the military chaos of World War I.
 

A second sample from Alexei Bayer's mystery novel Murder at the Dacha. Here, inspector Pavel Matushkin redeems a favor to get some information from a gangster.

July 14, 1896, is celebrated as the birthday of the Russian automobile – on this day, the first Russian-built motorcar with an internal combustion engine was introduced to the public at the Arts Exhibition in Nizhni Novgorod.