November 01, 2018 Taking Stock A look back at year end stock-taking, at changes that have been promised in years past, and promises that have been un-kept. History Literature
September 01, 2018 September and October Stepping through hundreds of years of history, we look back at signal events that have occurred in these fall months. History
July 01, 2018 The August Curse Since the Bolshevik Revolution struck, Russia has had a particularly cursed experience with the month of August. History
May 01, 2018 May & June In which we look back at spring events that have shaped Russian history in years ending in 8. History
March 01, 2018 Russian March In which we look back and turning points in March: in 1918, 1953, and (perhaps) 2018. The season of thaw and the onset of spring is fraught with omens. History
January 01, 2018 Heir Abhorrent On February 3, 1718, Emperor Peter I issued a manifesto depriving Alexei, his son by his first wife, of the right to succeed him to the throne. History
January 01, 2018 The Historian February 1, 1818 was a milestone in the history of Russian culture, marking the release of the first eight volumes of Nikolai Karamzin’s History of the Russian State. Biographies History
January 01, 2018 January & February What did Russians experience during January and February in bygone days? History St. Petersburg
November 01, 2017 1917 Diary All this year, in connection with the centennial of the 1917 revolutions, Calendar has offered readers a view of that year through the eyes of contemporaries. This issue we conclude the series with a look at what was going on in the pivotal months of November and December 1917. History Military Politics
September 01, 2017 1917 Diary In which we look at the events of 1917 through the words and works of the politicians, artists, and luminaries living through them. History
July 01, 2017 1917 Diary In which we look at the revolutionary year through the eyes of the people living through it. In this issue, the politicians, the tsar, and Alexander Blok. History
May 01, 2017 1917 Diary In which we look at the revolutionary year through the eyes of the people living through it. History
September 13, 2023 to February 04, 2024 Komar and Melamid in America Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University | New Brunswick, NJ The joint work of the well-known Moscow-born American artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, who worked together from 1972 to 2003. Art Exhibit
February 22, 2022 to February 22, 2032 Russian-Language Gallery Tour Brooklyn Museum | Brooklyn, NY Russian-language tour exploring our collection in depth, second Sunday of each month at 1 pm. Free, reservations required Art Exhibit
December 10, 2023 to December 10, 2023 HANUKKAH - FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Plummer Park - Fiesta Hall | West Hollywood, CA Kol Sephardic Choir (ROSE) & Pasión Flamenca De Los Angeles cordially invite you to a wonderful musical event, "HANUKKAH-Festival of Lights" Music
February 28, 2022 to February 23, 2032 Free Russian Language Guided Tours Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY Russian-speaking guides conduct tours of the museum's highlights every Monday at 11 am. Art Exhibit
September 22, 2023 to January 21, 2024 Spirituality in Eastern Christianity Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA An exhibition of photographs by Alain de Lotbinière. The 26 images were taken during the course of several trips to Northern Macedonia, Serbia, and Russia, as well as during visits to sites in Turkey and Egypt. Art Exhibit
The Little Humpbacked Horse A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Resilience: Life Stories of Centenarians Born in the Year of Revolution Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history.
Russia Rules From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Bears in the Caviar Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Moscow Eccentric Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
The Samovar Murders The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Moscow and Muscovites Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin.
October 30, 2021 Happy 200th, Dostoyevsky! On this, the occasion of the great writer's 200th birthday, we offer some links to stories we have published about him over the years, as well as some cool videos. Happy reading and viewing! History Literature Russia File
February 24, 2023 Russia's Year of Horror After a year of horrific war, why does a magazine like Russian Life continue? Why not simply wash our hands of it and walk away? Culture History Journalism War Russia File
March 15, 2017 Who Invented the Ancient Slavic Gods, and Why? How it was that in the eighteenth century Russian mythology was trumped-up in the Western manner? Who wanted it? And where did we get Lel, Yarilo and Zimtserla? We explain everything you'd want to know about Russian fakelore. Culture History Literature Religion Russia File
October 31, 2016 Why Stalin's Corpse Was Exhumed on Halloween The body of Joseph Stalin was removed from the mausoleum on Red Square on October 31, 1961. It may not be as spooky as Halloween, but the former leader still haunts Russia today. History Politics Social Issues Russia File
March 07, 2022 Russian Life Takes a Pause As the world reels from the horrific, criminal events being perpetrated in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin, the Russian state, and the Russian military, all of us who nurture a love for Russian people, their culture and history, have been heartbroken. It is not easy to remain a Russophile when suddenly, all across the globe, the adjective “Russian” has become toxic. News Russia File
March 20, 2020 Vodka vs. Coronavirus Russia’s Ministry of Health discussed ways vodka can affect the coronavirus (spoiler alert: not much). Food & Drink Health CVSG Russia File