December 01, 1995 Mushroom Soup A primer on Russia's "forest meat," and a recipe for sauted mushrooms you'll love.
February 01, 1997 Anti-Hangover Soup Rassolnik is the most Russian of all national soups. The secret is its stock--rassol-- or pickle juice...
July 01, 1995 Shchi soup: a not so invisible hand in history For many centuries, shchi soup has been a staple of Russian cuisine. There is evidence that shchi was known in Rus long before the adoption of Christianity in 988 A.D.
June 01, 1997 The Soup of the Russian Nobility Svekolnik is "the other beet soup." This aristocratic soup with a delicate flavor is served cold.
July 01, 1997 A Soup for Real Men Ukha -- fresh fish soup, is popular across Russia. Here's the recipe!
July 01, 2019 Hogweed instead of Birches The Caucasus had a fast-growing plant that the Soviets wanted to plant up north to use for animal feed. What could possibly go wrong?
January 01, 2006 A Soup for the New Year Yelena Ivanovna Molokhovets was the author of Russia's most famous cookbook, A Gift to Young Housewives, first published in 1861. Here is a warm duck soup from her book, plus a bit of history on this important tome.
March 01, 2004 The Soup of Life Most Americans consider borshch the quintissential Rusian soup, but the truth is that shchi -- cabbage soup -- holds that honor. Here we look at its history and offer a tasty recipe.
March 01, 2009 Going Green in St. Petersburg Sustainable, organic and green cuisine comes to St. Petersburg. Our recipe: Lentil Soup.
June 09, 2019 This Takes the Cake! A brief history of the Russian bakery, from imperial times to the Internet age.
The Latchkey Murders Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
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.
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.
Fish: A History of One Migration This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
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.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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.
Jews in Service to the Tsar Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
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...
Okudzhava Bilingual Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards.
Tolstoy Bilingual This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious.
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.