September 01, 2020 God in Nature The veneration and preservation of nature are at the root of Mari culture. We get a unique inside look at their most sacred annual ritual of worship.
July 01, 2020 "Painting Jesus Isn't Dangerous" Moscow is seeing religious symbolism crop up in unexpected places. It’s not the first time, but there is something different about what is going on now.
January 05, 2020 Griffin Edwards Griffin Edwards is Russian Life's managing digital editor, and is based in Eugene, OR. He holds an MA from Indiana University's Russian and East European Institute, where he received the Daniel Armstrong Prize for his thesis essay on neomedievalism in the ideology of Putinism (It's more interesting than it sounds). His adventures in Russia include witnessing modern theater in Moscow for St. Olaf College's undergraduate research program; experiencing the joys of an all-male winter banya in Valdai; and having the honor of collecting fares for a Peterhof-bound marshrutka. He has written in the past for the Independent Voter Network in San Diego, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and D.C.'s Lugar Center.
June 16, 2020 The Inheritance of the Tsars: Russia's Claim to Rome Russia-watchers sometimes encounter the idea that Moscow is the "Third Rome." But where does this idea come from, and what does it mean?
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. Culture History Nonfiction
December 01, 2008 93 Untranslatable Russian Words Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context. Language Reference Language Learning Nonfiction
September 01, 2010 301 Things Everyone Should Know About Russia How do you begin to get a handle on the world's largest country? This colorful, illustrated guide will get you started... Culture History Reference Nonfiction
December 12, 2016 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. Fiction
October 31, 2024 Far & Away ~ Tales from Rural Russia 33 original stories about modern (and not so modern) life in rural Russia. Fiction
July 01, 2013 Murder at the Dacha Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case. Literature Fiction
January 09, 2017 Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution. History War Nonfiction
February 01, 2009 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. Culture Language Reference Language Learning Nonfiction
June 01, 2016 Driving Down Russia's Spine The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. Nonfiction
Turgenev Bilingual A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages. Bilingual Books Fiction Language Learning
Tolstoy Bilingual This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. Bilingual Books Fiction Language Learning
July 01, 2014 Fearful Majesty This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign. Nonfiction
