Chtenia: Spring 2013

Cover: Natasha Karelskaya

6: Lying Undercover Alexei Bayer
On the danger of alumni relations, Roman train stations and stray buttons.
Espionage

13: Marseilles Akhill Levinton
A legendary song about a spy dreaming of escape. Accompanied by a wonderful illustration.
:: Translation by Andrew Glikin-Gusinsky
:: Illustrations/Images by Evgenia Nayberg
Espionage

15: Staff Captain Rybnikov Alexander Kuprin
It is the height of the Russo-Japanese war, and Staff Captain Rybnikov, based in St. Petersburg, is not exactly he seems to be.
:: Translation by Stella Naulo
Espionage

34: The Call Vladimir Mayakovsky
Comrades! Danger rears its head from the right!
:: Translation by Andrew Glikin-Gusinsky
Poetry

37: The Tale of the Cowardly Devil Lev Ovalov
Excerpt from one of the classic Soviet era Major Pronin tales, about a skilled Chekist battling in this case wreckers.
:: Translation by Donna Turkish Seifer
Fiction

60: The Little Button Yevgeny Dolmatovsky
A lost button leads to the discovery of a spy in this classic Soviet era poem.
:: Translation by Andrew Glikin-Gusinsky
Poetry

62: A Face of Soviet Intelligence Alexei Bayer
A brief portrayal of a quintessential and typical Soviet intelligence operative, Naum Markovich Belkin.
Espionage

63: Early Spy Films: The Stalin Era Arseny Zamostyanov
A consideration of the short and vivid history of spy films under Stalin.
:: Translation by Alexei Bayer
Film & Television

74: The Border Sergei Mikhalkov
A classic song about the Civil War and vigilance in the borderlands.
:: Translation by Andrew Glikin-Gusinsky
Poetry

77: PKHENTS Andrei Sinyavsky
A masterful sci-fi espionage tale set in Soviet Russia. Really.
:: Translation by Alexei Bayer
Fiction

101: The New World Order Alexei Bayer
This tale within a tale unravels into a surprising conclusion about the real end of the Cold War.
Fiction