In the public mind, Russian forests have always been an unlimited resource. Not any longer.

Our collection of interesting social, political, and economic data in this issue.

An excerpt from Benson Bobrick’s new book, a memoir of his life and work as a writer.

For several months, there has been a steady trickle of news reports from Shiyes, a nondescript railway station nestled amid forests and lakes not far from Syktyvkar, that sound as if they are coming from a war zone.

News and brief items from around Russia.

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.