March 01, 2021 Lady Macbeth and a Tarantas By Robert Blaisdell and Paul E. Richardson A review of a new collection of Leskov's stories, and a new translation of Sollogub. Literature Reviews
September 01, 2020 Fear and Fandango By Robert Blaisdell We review Good Citizens Need Not Fear, by Maria Reva, and Fandango and Other Stories, by Alexander Grin. Literature Reviews
March 18, 2020 Dissecting Chekhov By Paul E. Richardson Translation is an art, not a science. And translating Chekhov is a particularly challenging art. Literature Reviews
November 24, 2019 Too Much Catherine, Not Enough Greatness By Tiffany Zhu and Katrina Keegan Two reviewers evaluate Catherine the Great through a gender and a storytelling lens. Film & TV History Reviews
August 03, 2019 "The Last Czars" is a Disgrace to Russian History By Tiffany Zhu “The Last Czars” is a wolf in sheep’s clothing: disingenuous, deceitful hagiography masquerading as history. Film & TV History Reviews
April 12, 2019 To the Kokosmos By Tiffany Zhu For Cosmonautics Day 2019, Anna Radchenko directs a surreal meditation on space. Watch the complete film on Russian Life. Culture Reviews Space
March 05, 2019 A Grim Tale of Redemption By Robert Blaisdell 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. History Reviews War
March 01, 2019 Stalin's Scribe By Robert Blaisdell 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. Biographies History Literature Reviews
September 04, 2012 Aristocrats, Churches and Noir By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of five interesting new books for Russophiles: Former People, Nevsky, St. Petersburg Noir, Wooden Churches and Russian Film Posters. History Literature Reviews
January 10, 2012 Interview with Author William Ryan By Paul E. Richardson 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. History Literature Reviews
November 18, 2011 Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and a Few Spies By Paul E. Richardson 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. Int'l Relations Literature Reviews
September 08, 2011 Review: New Fiction for Russophiles By Paul E. Richardson It should come as no surprise,” writes Vyacheslav Pyetsukh at the beginning of The New Moscow Philosophy, “that where literature goes life follows, that Russians not only write what they live but in part live what they write…” Literature Reviews