November 03, 2021 Gogol in the Middle Russia and Ukraine have a long history of disputes over beloved territory, to say the least… But this time, it’s Gogol. History Int'l Relations Literature Russia File
November 03, 2021 Make Not War Art "In connection with the incident, the State Hermitage was forced to apply to the prosecutor's office of St. Petersburg with a statement to conduct a prosecutor's check and assess the actions of a citizen for possible violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation, including in terms of public insult to the memory of the Defenders of the Fatherland.” – Press Service of the St. Petersburg Hermitage, announcing it would be reviewing an artist’s behavior for potentially insulting the veterans of the Patriotic War of 1812. Art History Law St. Petersburg Quote
November 01, 2021 Russian Terrorists with Febrile Dreams of Flight An excerpt from To Break Russia’s Chains: Boris Savinkov and his Wars Against the Tsar and the Bolsheviks, recently published by Pegasus Books. Espionage History
November 01, 2021 The Timid Path On December 12, 1801, 23-year-old Tsar Alexander I issued an ukaz. This particular decree was not something historians have considered extremely significant in the scheme of Alexander’s reign, but it merits attention for a few reasons. Agriculture History Law
November 01, 2021 Death of an Empress Empress Elizabeth Petrovna breathed her last in December of 1761, in her St. Petersburg palace. By any standard, Peter the Great’s second daughter had lived an unusual life. History St. Petersburg Women
November 01, 2021 The Road Ahead People often ask me what lies ahead for Russia. This question always surprises me. It suggests that people think historians are part prophet, as if knowing a lot about the past means you can predict the future. Government History
November 01, 2021 All Good Things In which we say goodbye to a longtime editor and look toward the future by looking back. History
November 01, 2021 Is Dostoyevsky Still Alive? On the occasion of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky’s 200th anniversary, we visit his adopted city to consider the imprint he left behind. History Literature St. Petersburg
November 01, 2021 Dreadful Terror Dostoyevsky’s chance visit to a museum led to a chilling, life-changing encounter with an artist long dead, but whose work was very much alive. It would make an appearance in the writer’s next novel. History Literature Religion
November 01, 2021 Debunking a Myth The salacious and derogatory myth surrounding the death of Catherine the Great has its roots in her detractors and successors, both at home and abroad. Biographies History St. Petersburg
October 30, 2021 At Home with Dostoyevsky If, for some reason, you ever find yourself in the small town of Staraya Russa, be sure to check out Dostoyevsky's summer house. History Literature Rural Life Russia File
October 30, 2021 The Best Dostoyevsky Artwork at the Russian Museum For one month only, the Russian Museum is celebrating the life of Fyodor Dostoyevsky with a 200th birthday exhibit. Art Biographies History Holidays St. Petersburg Russia File
February 28, 2022 to December 31, 2024 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
November 11, 2023 to September 15, 2024 Visions of Transcendence: Creating Space in East and West Wende Museum | Culver City, CA This exhibit highlights the resilience and creative power of people deprived of their freedom or their own place to live. Art Exhibit
Survival Russian Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Resilience ~ The Russian Version (Переживем) 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.
Steppe / Степь This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
A Taste of Chekhov This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
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.
Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction For over 100 years, most of the science fiction produced by the world’s largest country has been beyond the reach of Western readers. This new collection changes that, bringing a large body of influential works into the English orbit.
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.
Kashtanka – A Bilingual Reader A bilingual presentation of one of the great classics of Russian literature.
301 Things Everyone Should Know About Russia How do you begin to get a handle on the world's largest country? This colorful, illustrated guide will get you started...
A Taste of Russia The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Driving Down Russia's Spine The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia.
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 14, 2020 Coronavirus Coping: Russian Lit has the Answers Russian literature has an answer for everything. In the times of coronovirus, this is your guide. Art Literature CVSG Russia File
May 07, 2015 The Most Useful Russian Inventions What do radio, television, the periodic table, and helicopters have in common? Russians were involved in developing all of them – and more! Reference Science Russia File
January 10, 2014 Why Don't Russians Smile? It is a common trope that Russians never smile. Which of course is interpreted to mean they are unfriendly, gloomy, sullen – positively Dostoyevskian. This, of course, is a complete misreading of body language and cultural norms. Culture Humor Language Russia File
March 17, 2019 When Russian Cuisine Turns Georgian Why is Georgian food so popular in Russia? Turns out there's more to it than deliciousness. Culture Food & Drink History Russia File
April 23, 2014 Peace, Land, Bread Peace! Land! Bread! This was the battle cry of the 1917 October Revolution (old calendar) that changed the history of Russia and indeed the entire world. Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, the tsars concentrated on centralization of their power and control. The most common way of doing this was to take power away from the nobility, appeasing them by giving them dominion over their land and workers. This soon developed into the oppressive, slave-style condition known as serfdom. History Russia File
