February 24, 2023

Russia's Year of Horror


Russia's Year of Horror
Taras Shevchenko memorial in Borodianko, Ukraine, damaged with a bullet.
Alex Fedorenko (cc)

There is little we can say that we have not already said since the war began one year ago today. Our stance has been clear: Russia’s War on Ukraine was and is an appalling, illegal act. And Russia lost this war on day one.

We can, however, add these summary observations:

  • over the course of the past year, Russian civilian and military leaders, as well as troops on the ground, have clearly been implicated in war crimes;
  • authoritarianism and fascism in Russia have ratcheted up to Soviet-era levels;
  • free speech is now impossible in Russia, both in the media and in private life;
  • hundreds of thousands of the country’s best and brightest young minds have fled the country;
  • the Russian economy is gradually being hobbled by sanctions and a lack of foreign trade and travel;
  • Russia has become a pariah state.

In short, the Russia we knew and loved has been murdered by this horrendous war, and a hideous Soviet vampire replicant has arisen in its place.

Given that, why does a magazine like Russian Life continue? Why not simply wash our hands of it and walk away?

One simple reason: life.

For decades, we published this magazine as a place for Russophiles to share their love of Russian culture, history, and society. With the onset of the war, this was no longer appropriate, because every aspect of Russian life has de facto been implicated in the country’s criminal war.

So we shifted gears. Our job now is to see our magazine’s title as no longer descriptive, but aspirational – to focus on how Russia gets back to life after plunging Europe into a cataclysm of death.

We firmly believe that there are many Russians who abhor the war, who want to make a stand against death and for life, but the costs of resistance are too high. What is more, there are few western media outlets reporting in English about what is really going on inside the country. So we must use our connections, experience, and technology to bring out the stories that need to be told. Thus, our focus both online and in print will be on stories about human rights, democracy, resistance to oppression, and those struggling to preserve what is left of a civil society.

We will be fueled by hope until life returns.

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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.
A Taste of Russia

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.
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Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
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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.
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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. 
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Driving Down Russia's Spine
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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. 

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. 

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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.

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Faith & Humor
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A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Fish
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Fish

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.

Fearful Majesty
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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.

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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