In which we review two books: one full of poetry, another full of Putin.

A review of a new collection of Leskov's stories, and a new translation of Sollogub.

We review Good Citizens Need Not Fear, by Maria Reva, and Fandango and Other Stories, by Alexander Grin.

Translation is an art, not a science. And translating Chekhov is a particularly challenging art.

Two reviewers evaluate Catherine the Great through a gender and a storytelling lens.

“The Last Czars” is a wolf in sheep’s clothing: disingenuous, deceitful hagiography masquerading as history.

For Cosmonautics Day 2019, Anna Radchenko directs a surreal meditation on space. Watch the complete film on Russian Life.

Redemption is grim, shocking, and rooted in the author's own tragic history. Yet, true to its name, it is a powerful story of redemption.

I can’t imagine a cleverer or more perverse way of presenting “the first political biography” of Mikhail Sholokhov (1905-1975) than as if from the conscience-addled Sholokhov’s perspective.

Reviews of five interesting new books for Russophiles: Former People, Nevsky, St. Petersburg Noir, Wooden Churches and Russian Film Posters.

William Ryan’s second book featuring MVD Detective Alexei Korolev, The Darkening Field, was released on January 3, 2012. Russian Life Publisher Paul E. Richardson interviewed Ryan about the genesis for his character and the challenges of situating a novel in Soviet Russia.

Reviews of some recent books on Tolstoy, Spying and the end of the USSR. And a new translation of an often overlooked work by Dostoyevsky. As published in the November/December 2011 issue of Russian Life.