November 01, 2011 Tolstoy, Spies and Empire Reviews of a new biography of Tolstoy, a book about a French-run spy, and a firsthand account of the end of the Soviet empire. Oh, and a new translation of a less-read work by Dostoyevsky.
September 01, 2011 War and Literature Reviews of three non-fiction histories (Leningrad, by Anna Reid; Bloodlands, by Timothy Snyder; The Damned and the Dead, by Frank Ellis) and three works of fiction (The Sky is Falling, by Caroline Adderson; The New Moscow Philosophy, by Vyacheslav Pyetsukh; Separate Kingdoms, by Valerie Laken).
July 01, 2011 Six Books and a Movie Reviews of the books "Made in Russia," "The Hottest Dishes of the Tatar Cuisine," "Moscow Believes in Tears," "Romanov Riches," "The Suitcase," "Russian Magic," and the film "How I Ended this Summer."
May 01, 2011 Fiction and Memoirs Reviews of five books: Snowdrops by A.D. Miller; Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente; The Russian Word's Worth, by Michele A. Berdy; The Three Fat Men, by Yuri Olesha; Memoir of a Gulag Actress, by Tamara Petkevich. Literature
March 01, 2011 Perestroika, Molotov and Dachas A review of the film "My Perestroika," and the books "Dacha Idylls," "Molotov's Magic Lantern," and "The Road."
January 01, 2011 Siberia, Emigration, Gorky and Georgia Reviews of: Stalina, by Emily Rubin; Travels in Siberia, by Ian Frazier; Childhood, by Maksim Gorky; Balancing Act, by Natasha Borzilova; and the film Russian Lessons.
November 01, 2010 Spies, Androids and Napoleon Reviews of Stalin's Romeo Spy, Lost and Found in Russia, Russia Against Napoleon, Android Karenina, The New Nobility, and Russian Music for Cello and Piano.
May 01, 2010 Ravens, Enemies and Crumbs Reviews of: "The Raven's Gift" by Jon Turk, "Know Your Enemy," by David C. Engerman, "A Mountain of Crumbs," by Elena Gorokhovaya, "Russian San Francisco," by Lydia Zaverukha and Nina Bodgan, and "Peter the Great," by Derek Wilson.
January 01, 2010 Math and Memoirs A review of "Perfect Rigor" by Masha Gessen, "Anton Chekhov, a Brother's Memoir," by Mikhail Chekhov, three excellent new fiction volumes, and the first of a two part series on language learning aids.
November 01, 2009 Terror, Pushkin and the Beatles Reviews of In the First Circle, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the documentary How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin, and four other books: There is no Freedom Without Bread!, by Constantine Pleshakov, Brief Lives: Alexander Pushkin, by Robert Chandler, Privet Amerika, and Terrible Tsarinas, by Henri Troyat.
September 01, 2009 Spies, Shostakovich and Gagarin's Grandson Reviews of the film Gagarin's Grandson, the PBS series Keeping Score, as well as the books The Lost Spy, Spymaster, Everything Flows, A Hero of Our Time and Trotsky.
July 01, 2009 Summer Reading Selections include: The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight; Londongrad; Kamchatka; Red Sky, Black Death; Wave of Terror; Ballerina (DVD)
September 22, 2023 to January 21, 2024 Spirituality in Eastern Christianity Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA An exhibition of photographs by Alain de Lotbinière. The 26 images were taken during the course of several trips to Northern Macedonia, Serbia, and Russia, as well as during visits to sites in Turkey and Egypt. Art Exhibit
December 10, 2023 to December 10, 2023 HANUKKAH - FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Plummer Park - Fiesta Hall | West Hollywood, CA Kol Sephardic Choir (ROSE) & Pasión Flamenca De Los Angeles cordially invite you to a wonderful musical event, "HANUKKAH-Festival of Lights" Music
September 13, 2023 to February 04, 2024 Komar and Melamid in America Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University | New Brunswick, NJ The joint work of the well-known Moscow-born American artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, who worked together from 1972 to 2003. Art Exhibit
February 28, 2022 to February 23, 2032 Free Russian Language Guided Tours Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY Russian-speaking guides conduct tours of the museum's highlights every Monday at 11 am. Art Exhibit
February 22, 2022 to February 22, 2032 Russian-Language Gallery Tour Brooklyn Museum | Brooklyn, NY Russian-language tour exploring our collection in depth, second Sunday of each month at 1 pm. Free, reservations required Art Exhibit
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.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors 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.
White Magic 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.
Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction For over 100 years, most of the science fiction produced by the world’s largest country has been beyond the reach of Western readers. This new collection changes that, bringing a large body of influential works into the English orbit.
22 Russian Crosswords Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
Steppe / Степь This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Resilience ~ The Russian Version (Переживем) Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history.
Bears in the Caviar Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
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.
Murder and the Muse KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Russia Rules From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
The Samovar Murders The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
March 20, 2020 Vodka vs. Coronavirus Russia’s Ministry of Health discussed ways vodka can affect the coronavirus (spoiler alert: not much). Food & Drink Health CVSG Russia File
October 14, 2016 Five Wild Facts about St. Basil's Cathedral On October 14, 1991, St. Basil’s Cathedral was reopened after six decades. Here are five fun facts in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Cathedral’s rebirth. Culture History Religion Russia File
April 23, 2014 Peace, Land, Bread Peace! Land! Bread! This was the battle cry of the 1917 October Revolution (old calendar) that changed the history of Russia and indeed the entire world. Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, the tsars concentrated on centralization of their power and control. The most common way of doing this was to take power away from the nobility, appeasing them by giving them dominion over their land and workers. This soon developed into the oppressive, slave-style condition known as serfdom. History Russia File
October 30, 2021 Happy 200th, Dostoyevsky! On this, the occasion of the great writer's 200th birthday, we offer some links to stories we have published about him over the years, as well as some cool videos. Happy reading and viewing! History Literature Russia File
May 07, 2015 The Most Useful Russian Inventions What do radio, television, the periodic table, and helicopters have in common? Russians were involved in developing all of them – and more! Reference Science Russia File
January 28, 2020 Meet Russia's favorite sable Siberian sable fur was once Russia's biggest luxury export, but now we can't get enough of Instagram star Umora, the sable inspiring Russians to never look at fur coats again. Animals Internet Interview Russia File
