September/October 2008

Russian Calendar-In Brief

A few hundred words in this space cannot begin to do justice to the life and work of author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 

Readers comment and correct.

The latest from the travel front.

All the news that fits from all across Russia.

With each passing year, Russia's summer festivals are gaining ground as alternatives to the stifled city music scene...

A look back at the tumultuous battle between President Yeltsin and the recalcitrant Duma of 1993, which lead to the shelling of parliament.

Each year, on October 19, students in Russia celebrate the beginning of higher education in the country, in 1811.

The philosopher and historian who captivated young Soviet minds... and his inexplicable beliefs.

Where we consider the role of knees in the Russian language. Very important, just ask Nikita Sergeyevich...

Reclusive, frank, astoundingly industrious and uncompromising, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was the most influential writer of his age, and he did more to topple the Soviet Union than any other individual in the 20th century. We spoke with his wife just a few months before his death.

It may seem like the latest fad, yet the explosion of interest in Russian art has been 20 years in the making. And has far from peaked...

This is the centennial of David Oistrakh, who some way was the greatest violinist of the 20th century.

America sent its first ambassador to Russia 200 years ago. He would go on to become the sixth U.S. president.

Sorrel Soup is this issue's recipe, provided by a Moscow restaurant that believes simple is better...

Book Review

A nostalgic look back on the life of Solzhenitsyn, and how it affected one Russian writer.