Today, Herbert Hoover – the 31st president of the United States (1929-1933) – is probably most associated with the onset and deepening of the Great Depression. Few know that prior to his presidency he was a successful international mining engineer (and had some lucrative investments in Russia before the Revolution), and later headed up the ARA (American Relief Administration), designed to deliver needed foreign aid to Belgium in the aftermath of World War I. 

The Allied nations of WWII made for a tenuous union at best. The main thing that held Britain, the U.S. and the Soviet Union together was their common enemy, Hitler. Not long after the end of WWII, the Western allies parted company with the Soviet Union and its leader, Joseph Stalin.

An excerpt from George Kennan's famous diary of his travels across Siberia, Tent Life in Siberia, in which he finds out he is not so fluent in Russian as he thought he was.

Now that winter has officially arrived, it is appropriate to send along this link to an AMAZING video of Moscow in 1908, over 100 years ago.

If the boyars of Serpukhov had not been so intransigent, history would have been much different for the town of Podolsk. As it turned out, the little town was forever transformed by a chance visit by American entrepreneurs.

Russian church officials were so sure that the year 7000, counting from the purported beginning of time (1492 in modern calendar time), would herald in the Apocalypse, that they did not bother making Easter calendars beyond that year.

There have been rumors of, and searches for, Napoleon’s Treasure since the mid- nineteenth century. Anna Dymkovets tagged along with some modern-day treasure seekers to find out what they are looking for.

This week I came across two excellent articles on the Art of Translation, one in the NY Times, the other in the National Post. The NY Times article, written by Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours, raises some fascinating ideas about how writing itself is an act of translation, from the writer's ideas and perception of what his perfect work might be...

How do you begin to get a handle on the world's largest country? This colorful, illustrated guide will get you started... 

Until a few months ago, Kyrgyzstan was just another quiet, corrupt, post-Soviet republic in Central Asia. But behind the curtain of obscurity, more challenging issues were simmering. Then, this past spring, things really started to get interesting.

I will forever associate the fall of the Berlin Wall with french fries. In 1989, my wife and I were living and working in Moscow. Our friend Bob was apartment-sitting in the American embassy complex; and on November 9 he invited us over for dinner...