July 18, 2023

Russian Life Flood Update


Russian Life Flood Update
Montpelier's downtown on July 11. Paul Richardson

One week ago, Montpelier, the Vermont state capital, along with a number of other Vermont communities, was inundated by a record-breaking rain deluge followed by a flood of biblical proportions.

The state has been declared a federal disaster area, and in Montpelier almost every single downtown business has been adversely impacted. The streets are stacked high with flood debris and every downtown store has been gutted and is preparing to rebuild. Hundreds of volunteers have poured into the town to help.

Aerial photo of Montpelier flooded on June 10
Montpelier on June 11, 2023.

Russian Life, which has its offices in downtown Montpelier, was largely spared the worst. But our town is decimated, infrastructure is reeling, the post office is shuttered, phone lines are down... you get the idea.

Montpelier – repeatedly voted one of the finest small towns in America – is resilient and resourceful, and will be back stronger than ever.

This post is to inform readers of Russian Life that there will be delays (including with the publication schedule for the summer issue of the magazine), and that we expect difficulties with customer service (our land-line phones have been down all week, for instance – if you have an issue you need help with, please send us an email).

Thank you for your patience and understanding in these difficult times.

If you are inspired to reach out and support Montpelier's rebuilding effort, you can do it very simply and securely here.

Thank you for your understanding.

– Paul Richardson, Publisher

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Some of our Books

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

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. 

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

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.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

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.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

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.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

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73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955