January 01, 2012 Gulags, Ments, Chekhov and Pushkin By Paul E. Richardson and Andrew Jameson Reviews of Fyodor Mochulsky's "Gulag Boss," William Ryan's "The Darkening Field," and Andrei Gelasimov's "Thirst," with shorter notices on "Memories of Chekhov" (Peter Sekirin) and "Pushkin Threefold" (Walter Arndt, trans.)
November 01, 2011 Tolstoy, Spies and Empire By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of a new biography of Tolstoy, a book about a French-run spy, and a firsthand account of the end of the Soviet empire. Oh, and a new translation of a less-read work by Dostoyevsky.
September 01, 2011 War and Literature By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of three non-fiction histories (Leningrad, by Anna Reid; Bloodlands, by Timothy Snyder; The Damned and the Dead, by Frank Ellis) and three works of fiction (The Sky is Falling, by Caroline Adderson; The New Moscow Philosophy, by Vyacheslav Pyetsukh; Separate Kingdoms, by Valerie Laken).
July 01, 2011 Six Books and a Movie By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of the books "Made in Russia," "The Hottest Dishes of the Tatar Cuisine," "Moscow Believes in Tears," "Romanov Riches," "The Suitcase," "Russian Magic," and the film "How I Ended this Summer."
May 01, 2011 Fiction and Memoirs By Paul E. Richardson and Lydia Razran Stone Reviews of five books: Snowdrops by A.D. Miller; Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente; The Russian Word's Worth, by Michele A. Berdy; The Three Fat Men, by Yuri Olesha; Memoir of a Gulag Actress, by Tamara Petkevich. Literature
March 01, 2011 Perestroika, Molotov and Dachas By Paul E. Richardson A review of the film "My Perestroika," and the books "Dacha Idylls," "Molotov's Magic Lantern," and "The Road."
January 01, 2011 Siberia, Emigration, Gorky and Georgia By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of: Stalina, by Emily Rubin; Travels in Siberia, by Ian Frazier; Childhood, by Maksim Gorky; Balancing Act, by Natasha Borzilova; and the film Russian Lessons.
November 01, 2010 Spies, Androids and Napoleon By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of Stalin's Romeo Spy, Lost and Found in Russia, Russia Against Napoleon, Android Karenina, The New Nobility, and Russian Music for Cello and Piano.
May 01, 2010 Ravens, Enemies and Crumbs By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of: "The Raven's Gift" by Jon Turk, "Know Your Enemy," by David C. Engerman, "A Mountain of Crumbs," by Elena Gorokhovaya, "Russian San Francisco," by Lydia Zaverukha and Nina Bodgan, and "Peter the Great," by Derek Wilson.
January 01, 2010 Math and Memoirs By Paul E. Richardson A review of "Perfect Rigor" by Masha Gessen, "Anton Chekhov, a Brother's Memoir," by Mikhail Chekhov, three excellent new fiction volumes, and the first of a two part series on language learning aids.
November 01, 2009 Terror, Pushkin and the Beatles By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of In the First Circle, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the documentary How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin, and four other books: There is no Freedom Without Bread!, by Constantine Pleshakov, Brief Lives: Alexander Pushkin, by Robert Chandler, Privet Amerika, and Terrible Tsarinas, by Henri Troyat.
September 01, 2009 Spies, Shostakovich and Gagarin's Grandson By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of the film Gagarin's Grandson, the PBS series Keeping Score, as well as the books The Lost Spy, Spymaster, Everything Flows, A Hero of Our Time and Trotsky.
