A Short History of the Crimea Partisans The partisan movement in Crimea developed in a complex context, given the USSR’s general lack of war-readiness and the defeats in the fall of 1941 on the Crimean section of the front.
November 01, 1996 A Woman of Substance Two hundred years ago this month, the death of Empress Catherine II brought many things in Russia to an end. Russia said goodbye to its last female ruler, and to the last ruler in its history to be given the title "veliky" (great). The period known as the Golden Age of the Nobility also drew to a close. Nikolai Pavlenko tells the story of the controversial and strong-willed German princess who siezed ppower in a vast foreign country and earned the ardent respect of her subject and outsiders alike.
July 01, 2005 The Defense of Sevastopol Russian soldiers held off the French at Malakhov Kurgan for 349 days, before it fell, 150 years ago this month. The end of this battle brought an end to the Crimean War.
September 01, 1997 Potemkin's Palace From Prince Potemkin to Prince Charles, Petersburg's Tauride Palace has seen its share of VIPs over the years. This month, 205 years after the death of the palace's famous namesake, we take a look at the history of the Tauride from its founding to the present day.
July 01, 2012 Catherine Ascends; Peter Falls We read history through the eyes of the victors, and in June 1762, the victor was a German-born princess newly ascended to the throne with her husband, Peter III. To history she became known as Catherine the Great.
May 01, 1998 The Prince and the Empress A biography of Catherine the Great's favorite and the noted diplomat, Grigory Potemkin.
July 01, 2014 Simferopol's Banksy For six years, a street artist nicknamed Sharik has been leaving his mark on Crimean streets.
January 01, 2015 Crimean Sojourn Mikhail Mordasov has been traveling all over Crimea since the annexation last spring. He shares this moving photo feature.
March 07, 2014 7 Ways Not to Protest the Occupation of Crimea Russia’s occupation cum annexation of Crimea is a tragedy no matter how you slice the salami tactics. One just wants to protest, boycott, DO something. But what? Well, like President Obama and the EU, we’re coming up a bit short on the list of feasible and effective sanctions. But here are a few things we recommend NOT doing.
March 28, 2014 The Solution to Crimea Lies Through Finland You have to hand it to History. She has a very well developed sense of irony. Exactly 160 years ago today the Crimean War began... While it is useful for the current crisis over Crimea and Ukraine to understand history, solving the crisis is more likely through analogy.
April 01, 2016 Crimea Crisis Solved? In a surprising move that has shocked international pundits, Secretary of State John Kerry today announced he has arranged the de-annexation of Crimea by Russia.
June 28, 2017 Catherine Seizes Power On June 28, 1762, Catherine (born Sofia Frederika Augusta), the German wife of a weakened tsar, seized Russian throne. She soon earned the appellation "the Great."
November 24, 2019 Too Much Catherine, Not Enough Greatness: Two Reviews of "Catherine the Great" Two reviewers evaluate Catherine the Great through a gender and a storytelling lens.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual) 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.
Okudzhava Bilingual Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards.
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...
Chekhov Bilingual Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout.
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.
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.
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.
Turgenev Bilingual A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Russian 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.
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.
Far & Away ~ Tales from Rural Russia 33 original stories about modern (and not so modern) life in rural Russia.
Fearful Majesty This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
