February 05, 2024

What Russians Want


What Russians Want
People in Moscow Metro. Christopher Michel, Wikimedia Commons

In a survey conducted by the independent sociological group Russian Field ahead of the March presidential elections, a overwhelming majority of Russians expressed a desire for "social justice" (80%), for Russia to assert itself as a "great power" (76%), and for the country to uphold "human rights, democracy, and freedom of expression" (73%).

The pollsters noted a generational divide in support for democratic values – it was higher among younger respondents. Conversely, there's a growing inclination towards "traditional values" and strong governmental authority.

Gender discrepancies were also apparent. Men were more supportive of a free market, while women expressed stronger preferences for "national greatness" and a return to traditional values.

Persons lacking higher education were more prone to endorse ideas of national power and traditionalism.

As to expectations from the newly elected president, approximately 26.4% of those polled emphasized the need for the president to end Russia's War on Ukraine and establish peace. Nearly 10% wanted to see improvements in income and living standards, while 8.2% advocated for political reforms and changes in governance. A majority found it difficult to answer this question.

Men and non-voters tended to say political reforms should be the president's top priority. Conversely, older individuals, low-income earners, and those lacking higher education said improving living standards was most important. Women, affluent individuals, those with higher education, and non-voters were more likely to prioritize ending the war.

Notably, Boris Nadezhdin has emerged as the only potential presidential anti-war candidate, who has a proposal to end the conflict. His campaign has garnered over 200,000 signatures, surpassing the required 100,000. However, questions have arisen regarding the validity of some signatures, and independent media outlet Meduza has suggested that, unsurprisingly, there is Kremlin resistance to an anti-war candidate in the presidential race.

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Some of Our Books

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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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The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
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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...
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The Little Golden Calf

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A Taste of Russia

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September 20, 2025

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A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

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. 

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
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Survival Russian
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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.

Life Stories
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Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

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