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On December 1, 1934, the USSR was shocked by the murder of Sergei Kirov, leader of Leningrad. But there was far worse yet to come.

You won't find much about the Russo-Finnish War (1939-40) in Russian history books.

A look back at the proclamation of Collectivization, in November 1929, leading essentially to the reinstatement of serfdom in Russia.

As summer turned into fall, a series of highly public spats broke out in Russia, with celebrities and cultural figures demonstrating deeply polarized attitudes about the crisis in Ukraine, the Kremlin, and history.

While Russia encourages "federalization" in Ukraine, it is jailing persons who dare call for decentralization at home, even if they are only using humor to make a point.

The Wall and Iron Felix may be gone, but one important thing never happened, which explains plenty about modern Russian politics.

Russia may have become staunchly anti-Western, but it would be very hard to say the same thing about the language.

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.