Alexander Pushkin, The Collected Stories  •  Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin LITERATURE •  1999 •  HARD COVER  • 548 PAGES An expanded collection of Pushkin's tales, including The Captain's Daughter, The Queen of Spades, Tales of Belkin, and many shorter works. With a long introduction by John Bayley and chronology. Translated and presented by Paul Debreczeny. (RUS196, $21.00)
Among the Russians  •  Colin Thubron TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2001 •  PAPER  • 224 PAGES The marvelous account of a 10,000-mile journey by car from St. Petersburg and the Baltic States south to Georgia and Armenia in 1981. A gifted writer and intrepid traveler, Thubron grapples with the complex Russian identity in this lyrical book, first published as "Where Nights are Longest." Thubron combines his encounters with the interesting characters he meets with Russian history, politics and insightful commentary. Highly recommended. (RUS106, $14.00)
Anna Karenina  •  Leo Tolstoy  •  Larissa Volokhonsky  •  Richa Pevear LITERATURE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 838 PAGES Tolstoy's tragic love story of the beautiful, but married Anna, and her passionate affair with the dashing Count Vronsky. An adulterous relationship in late 19th Century Russia is not without its harsh consequences -- Anna loses her family and is ostracized by those around her in a social downfall. Interwoven with the story of Konstantin Levin and Princess Kitty Shcerbatsky, this epic work is a timeless novel of desire, weakness, and the search for love. (RUS81, $16.00)
The Art of the Russian Matryoshka  •  Rett Ertl ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2003 •  HARD COVER  • 225 PAGES A thoroughly illustrated portrait of the wooden nesting dolls of Russia. Includes a glossary of Russian and English terms. (RUS323, $49.95)
Balanchine, A Biography  •  Bernard Taper BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1996 •  PAPER  • 448 PAGES Taper sorts out the controversial legacy of the legendary choreographer in this study of his life. A newly added epilogue to this reprint of the original 1984 work examines how ballet been affected by Balanchine's death. (RUS193, $29.95)
Belorussia, Western Russia, Ukraine, North Map  •  GeoCenter MAP A map of Belarus, the northern Ukraine and Western Russia at a scale of 1:750,000. (RUS137, $11.95)
Berlitz Russian Phrase Book & Dictionary  •  Berlitz Pocket Guides LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  1998 •  PAPER  • 192 PAGES A short introduction to common Russian words and phrases, designed for the traveler. Contains more than 1,000 phrases and more than 2,000 words. (RUS107, $8.95)
Black Earth, A Journey Through Russia After the Fall  •  Andrew Meier TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2003 •  HARD COVER  • 511 PAGES Meier, a journalist who covered Russia for "Time" from 1996-2001, ventures far outside the Kremlin gates for this account of typical Russians since the collapse of the Soviet Union. He focuses his report on South, North, East and West: war-torn Chechnya; the industrial northern city of Norilisk; the forgotten island of forgotten Sakhalin; and progressive St. Petersburg. An insightful portrait much in the spirit of David Remnick's "Resurrection." (RUS213, $28.95)
Black Night White Snow, Russia's Revolutions 1905-1917  •  Harrison Salisbury HISTORY •  1977 •  PAPER  • 746 PAGES A correspondent for the "New York Times" and the author of several fine books on Russia, Salisbury surveys the poets, prophets and religious fanatics that peopled this momentous era of Russian history. The book is an evocative, moving account of one of the great political tragedies of the 20th century -- brought to life in colorful detail. It begins with the execution of Lenin's brother for the attempted assassination of Tsar Alexander III, and goes on to paint a vivid picture of the fatal crush of the crowds at Tsar Nicolas II's coronation, Bloody Sunday, the abdication of the tsar, the storming of the Winter Palace in the October Revolution, the Communist takeover, and the first days of the emerging Soviet Union. (RUS12, $16.95)
Bloom's Literary Guide to St. Petersburg  •  Bradley D. Woodworth HISTORY •  2005 •  HARD COVER A jewel of the Russian literary scene, St. Petersberg served as an inspiration for writers Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Gogol and Aleksandr Pushkin. Here, the city is examined through the literary connections and influences that carved St. Petersberg a spot as one of the great literary cities of the world. (RUS349, $40.00)
The Bronze Horseman  •  Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin LITERATURE •  1992 •  PAPER  • 80 PAGES Pushkin's epic poem was based on actual events, the flooding of his beloved St. Petersburg. (RUS281, $14.50)
The Brothers Karamazov  •  Fyodor Dostoevsky  •  Larissa Volokhonsky  •  Richard Pevear LITERATURE •  1991 •  PAPER  • 832 PAGES Dostoyevsky's final masterpiece, the introspective, philosophical novel of four very different brothers dealing with the murder of their father. This edition is an acclaimed recent translation. (RUS108, $18.00)
Burning Lights  •  Bella Chagall  •  Marc Chagall  •  Norbert Guterman BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1988 •  PAPER  • 268 PAGES A memoir of growing up in the city of Vitebsk, Belarus in the beginning of the 20th century. Illustrated by the author's husband (famous artist Marc Chagall), this is a woman's story of life in traditional Belorussian society. (RUS122, $19.00)
C.I.S. and the Baltic States Map  •  Hildebrand MAP A reasonably detailed map of Western Russia and the Baltics (at a scale of 1:3.5 million) with a general all the states of the former USSR on the reverse at a scale of 1:15.7 million. The more detailed map includes not only the western portion of Russia, but much of Central Asia, right up to the Chinese border. (RUS22, $14.95)
Catherine the Great  •  Henri Troyat BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1994 •  PAPER  • 377 PAGES One of the world's most notable biographers creates a grand portrait of a great monarch. This Russian-born French biographer of Tolstoy, Chekhov, Turgenev, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, and Gogol weaves a rich tapestry of history that reads like a novel. Seizing power from her husband and second cousin Peter III, Catherine fights and beats the Turks, defeats rebellion, partitions Poland, raises the prestige of Russia in Europe by corresponding with French philosophers and buying western art, and brings vast new lands under her 34-year reign. (RUS10, $18.00)
A Century of Ambivalence, The Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present  •  Zvi Y. Gitelman HISTORY •  2001 •  PAPER  • 321 PAGES A strikingly illustrated history of Jewish life in Russia, originally published in 1988 and expanded for this second edition. With two new chapters on the fate of Jews and Judaism in the former Soviet Union, 200 black-and-white photographs from YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and three maps. Zvi Gitelman is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Jean and Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan. (RUS172, $24.95)
Clara's Grand Tour, Travels With a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-century Europe  •  Glynis Ridley HISTORY •  2006 •  PAPER  • 240 PAGES The entertaining history of a most unusual eighteenth-century European celebrity. Clara the Indian rhinoceros was brought to Europe in 1741 by the Dutch sea captain Douwemout Van der Meer, and toured for seventeen years, to the delight of heads of state such as Louis XV and Frederick the Great. A marvelous and unique look at the introduction of Eastern wildlife into the Western world. (FRN536, $12.00)
The Coming Anarchy, Shattering the Dreams of the Post Cold War  •  Robert D. Kaplan TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2001 •  PAPER  • 224 PAGES Topical essays by the prolific Robert Kaplan. (WLD51, $13.95)
Commonwealth of Independent States Map  •  Freytag & Berndt MAP A double-sided map of the entire CIS, divided into Western Russia (at a scale of 1:2,000,000 and eastern Russia (1:8,000,000). The map of Western Russia is the same plate as that for Eastern Europe (Item EUR36). (RUS133, $12.95)
A Concise History of the Russian Revolution  •  Peter Dimock  •  Richard Pipes HISTORY •  1996 •  PAPER  • 431 PAGES A scholarly analysis of the Russian revolution by Harvard Scholar Richard Pipes, from the events that catalyzed the revolution, to its conclusion and aftermath. Includes glossary, chronology, and photographs of important players of the Revolution. (RUS98, $17.00)
Confessions of a Fallen Standard-Bearer  •  Andrei Makine LITERATURE •  2001 •  PAPER  • 144 PAGES The celebrated contemporary Russian author follows two ideologically fervent boys, Arkady and Alyosha, as they come of age in post-Stalin Soviet Union. (RUS136, $21.95)
The Cossacks  •  Leo Tolstoy  •  Peter Constantine  •  Cynthia Ozick LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 192 PAGES A fresh translation of Tolstoy's 1863 semi-autobiographical novel about a young Muscovite and his military adventures in the rough and ready Caucasus. The book is, in part, a portrait of the Cossacks -- and an account of falling in love. (RUS241, $11.95)
The Cossacks, An Illustrated History  •  John Ure HISTORY •  2001 •  HARD COVER  • 288 PAGES In this lively, beautifully illustrated overview, a career diplomat (and frequent visitor to the region) explores the history of the Cossacks in Southern Russia and central Asia and their role in world affairs. With 105 color and 30 black and white illustrations. Interestingly, Ure challenges the notion that the Cossacks are no longer influential (or evident), detailing their involvement in Chechnya, Bosnia and other places. (RUS135, $45.00)
Cracks in the Iron Closet, Travels in Gay and Lesbian Russia  •  David Tuller TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1997 •  PAPER  • 344 PAGES A soul-searching reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle out and about in 1990s Russia. Tuller mixes travelogue with history, social analysis, and lots of comentary on his circle of friends and aquaintances (including the lesbian he fell for). It's an intimate, slightly surreal portrait of an emerging gay subculture in modern Russia. (RUS149, $15.00)
Crime and Punishment  •  Fyodor Dostoevsky  •  Constance Garnett LITERATURE •  1994 •  PAPER  • 647 PAGES The celebrated 1950 Constance Garnett translation of Dostoevsky's great detective novel. This thriller of murder and redemption, set in St. Petersburg and redolent of its atmosphere, illuminates the tragic consequences of alienation, setting the stage for the great social tragedies to come in the 20th century. (RUS344, $19.95)
The Crown Jewels, The British Secrets at the Heart of the KGB's Archives  •  Nigel West  •  Oleg Tsarev HISTORY •  1999 •  HARD COVER  • 384 PAGES A lively account of Soviet intelligence activity in Britain from the end of World War I to the late 1950s. West is a prolific British military historian specializing in espionage. (SPY21, $50.00)
Culture Smart! Russia, A Quick Guide to Customs and Etiquette  •  Anna King GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 168 PAGES A concise, no-nonsense guide to local customs, etiquette and culture with a short overview of the land and people along with practical travel advice. (RUS361, $9.95)
Days of Defeat and Victory  •  Yegor Gaidar HISTORY •  1999 •  HARD COVER  • 342 PAGES Gaidar, an architect of Yeltsin reforms, offers his lively, candid views on the dramatic events of the 1990s in this eyewitness account and memoir. (RUS231, $30.00)
The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Empire: Forty Years that Shook the World, from Stalin to Yeltsin  •  Fred Coleman HISTORY •  1997 •  PAPER  • 480 PAGES Having spent three years in Russia as a correspondent for the Associate Press, Coleman provides an insightful account of post-Stalin Russia. Coleman's main argument is that the disintegration of communism was inevitable with the death of Stalin. He also argues that the US overestimated Soviet power and Western influences could have facilitated the fall of the Soviet Union, prior to 1990. (RUS97, $19.95)
Doctor Zhivago  •  Boris Pasternak  •  Max Hayward  •  Manya Harari LITERATURE •  1997 •  PAPER  • 592 PAGES This epic story of life and love -- set against the backdrop of the first half of the 20th century -- takes in both World Wars and the Revolution. Banned in Russia upon publication in the 1950s, it was later made into the classic film by David Lean. (RUS222, $15.95)
Dreams of My Russian Summers, A Novel  •  Andrei Makine LITERATURE •  2008 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES In this widely praised first novel, Makine writes evocatively of the coming of age of a young boy in the Soviet Union of the 1960's and 70's. (RUS266, $13.99)
The Eastern Front, 1914-1917  •  Norman Stone HISTORY •  2000 •  PAPER  • 384 PAGES A classic study of Russia's contribution to the First World War. First published in 1975, before Soviet archives were opened, this work details the Russian defeat and how it affected the 1917 revolution. (WAR76, $16.95)
The Empress & the Architect, British Architecture and Gardens at the Court of Catherine the Great  •  Dmitri Shvidkovsky ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1996 •  HARD COVER  • 273 PAGES A gorgeous oversize survey of the 18th-century palaces, towns, parks and gardens in Russia designed by Charles Cameron, the Scottish architect to the court of Catherine the Great. With 190 black-and-white and 100 color illustrations, including architectural drawings and engravings, watercolors and modern color photographs. Shvidkovsky is a leading historian of Russian architecture. Appropriate attention is devoted to Catherine's Palace at Pushkin (Tsarkoye Selo) and Pavlovsk. (RUS259, $80.00)
The End of Eurasia, Russia on the Border Between Geopolitics and Globalization  •  Dmitri Trenin HISTORY •  2002 •  PAPER  • 345 PAGES A thought provoking analysis of Russia's foreign policy by the deputy director of the Carnegie Moscow Center (and a retired Russian army officer). Trenin -- who argues for a Euro-centered Russia and integration with the West -- looks at Russia's western face, its southern borders with the Islamic republics of Central Asia and the far east, increasingly dominated by China. (RUS163, $24.95)
Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse  •  James E. Falen  •  Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin LITERATURE •  1998 •  PAPER  • 240 PAGES A master work by one of Russia's most respected poets. Set in early 19th-century Russia, Pushkin's verse novel tells the tale of three men and three women, interwoven with a variety of literal philosophical and autobiographical tangents. (RUS101, $9.95)
Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse  •  Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin  •  Vladimir Nabokov LITERATURE •  2001 •  PAPER  • 362 PAGES In this translation of Pushkin's epic poem set in 19th-century Russia, the great novelist Nabokov brings the spark of Pushkin's original words to life. (RUS290, $22.95)
Eyewitness Guide Moscow  •  Eyewitness Guides GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 263 PAGES An outstanding guide to Moscow, its culture, history and attractions, with excellent local maps, site plans and hundreds of color photographs. It includes a select, annotated listing of recommended hotels, restaurants, cafes and shops. (RUS164, $23.00)
Faberge in the Royal Collection  •  Caroline De Guitaut ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2003 •  HARD COVER  • 240 PAGES A handsome study of Faberge art and the British Royal Family. Includes essays on the history of the collection, royal collectors, and Faberge's enduring influence. With 220 illustrations, 200 in color. (RUS215, $50.00)
The Face of Russia: Anguish, Aspiration and Achievement in Russian Culture  •  James H. Billington ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1999 •  PAPER  • 296 PAGES A companion volume to the PBS television series, this is a well informed, entertaining guide to key figures in the history of Russian art and culture. The book is divided into three parts: The Monks, Aristocrats and Masses. Billington covers icon painting, literature of Gogol, Musogsky's music and Eisentstein's ground-breaking films. (RUS54, $16.00)
Fathers and Sons  •  Ivan Turgenev LITERATURE •  1975 •  PAPER  • 295 PAGES This book is the original exploration of the generation gap, where the progressive, atheistic and scientific nihilism of the radical Bazarov clashes with the traditional values of his elders. The most accessible of the great Russian novelists, Turgenev was the first to create the modern revolutionary, the outsider, and the first to structure his story around the psychology of his characters instead of plot. More accurately translated than other Turgenev classics (RUS19, $12.00)
The First Circle  •  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn  •  Thomas Whitney LITERATURE •  1997 •  PAPER  • 580 PAGES Set in Moscow, Solzhenitsyn's The First Circle follows the fate of Gleb Nerzhin, his scientist colleagues and fellow prisoners and how they negotiate the horrors of Soviet Russia in the years following WWII. Like his protagonist, the author was a mathematician forced to work in a Stalinist-era prison run as a research institute. Solzhenitsyn was the winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize for Literature. (RUS260, $16.95)
First Person, An Astonishingly Frank Self-Portrait by Russia's President  •  Vladimir Putin HISTORY •  2000 •  PAPER  • 208 PAGES A book-length series of interviews with Russia's leader, organized chronologically. The question and answer sessions cover the man, his politics and rise to power. Translated by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick. (RUS161, $16.00)
Five Plays  •  Anton Chekhov  •  Ronald Hingley LITERATURE •  1998 •  PAPER  • 294 PAGES A comprehensive collection of Chekhov's major plays, including "Ivanov," "The Seagull," "Uncle Vanya," "Three Sisters," and "The Cherry Orchard." (RUS88, $8.95)
The Fixer  •  Bernard Malamud LITERATURE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 352 PAGES Set in Tsarist Russia, this well-known novel by Malamud tells the story of a young Jewish boy from Kiev wrongly accused of murder. Based on true events, the book confronts anti-semitism in Russia during the first decades of the 20th century. This classic novel (first published in 1966) was the first book ever to win both a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize. (RUS271, $15.00)
Fodor's Moscow and St. Petersburg  •  Christopher and Melanie Rice GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 275 PAGES This comprehensive guide in the Fodor's Gold series features solid practical information on sights, excursions, restaurants, hotels and nightlife. With a chapter on the cities of the Golden Ring. Fifth edition. (RUS03, $19.95)
Food in Russian History and Culture  •  Joyce Toomre  •  Musya Glants FOOD •  1997 •  PAPER Food is the chosen lens for the 14 cultural historians who contributed essays to this scholarly, wide-ranging book. Topics range from Tolstoy's vegetarianism to starvation under Stalin to Soviet restaurants. (RUS143, $19.95)
From Nyet to Da: Understanding the Russians  •  Yale Richmond CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2003 •  PAPER  • 219 PAGES A cultural portrait of the Russians for the traveler, covering Russia's geography and culture, character, state and society. With chapters on "Personal Encounters" and "Negotiating with Russians." Richmond is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer who spent 20 years in Russia. (RUS96, $23.95)
Gorbachev and Yeltsin As Leaders  •  George Breslauer HISTORY •  2002 •  PAPER  • 3831 PAGES An astute, balanced political analysis. Breslauer -- a professor at Berkeley -- has also published Khrushchev and Brezhnev as Leaders: Building Authority in Soviet Politics (1982). (RUS156, $27.99)
The Gothic Enterprise, A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral  •  Robert A. Scott ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2005 •  PAPER  • 307 PAGES Scott, whose interest in the history of cathedrals began when he first saw the magnificent Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Salisbury, England, takes his reader on a historical, architectural and sociological tour of the magnificent spires and stained-glass windows that dot the landscape of Europe. It's an accessible, personable overview. (EUR190, $17.95)
The Great Railway Bazaar, By Train through Asia  •  Paul Theroux TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 384 PAGES Theroux's vintage 1970s journeys across Asia by Train, displaying all his talent for portraiture, ego and the dismissive aside. It's great fun. He takes every two-bit train he can find from London across Europe, Turkey and the Middle East, India, Japan and China, returning home via the Trans-Siberian Express. (ASA40, $14.95)
Hadji Murad  •  Leo Tolstoy  •  Aylmer Maude LITERATURE •  2003 •  PAPER  • 192 PAGES A short novel set in the 19th-century Caucasus, concerning -- in part -- conflicts between the occupying Russians and Muslim groups in the region. Tolstoy, who spent four years in the Russian army in the Caucasus, based his story on a real-life mountain warrior. Originally published posthumously in 1923, this edition includes an introduction by John Burt Foster that puts the novel in its historical context. (CCS18, $11.95)
Here Is Where We Meet  •  John Berger LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES This novel weaves a portrait of several European countries through encounters with the dead, from the narrator's mother, whom he discovers on a park bench in Lisbon, to a childhood friend wandering a market in Krakow. "The dead don't stay where they are buried," the protagonist's mother tells him, and this becomes the mantra for this most unusual journey through Europe's history and people. (EUR189, $14.00)
The History of Russia  •  John Lawrence HISTORY •  1993 •  PAPER  • 368 PAGES A concise popular history of Russia from its pagan roots through the Tsarist period, revolution and post-Soviet realities. Seventh edition. (RUS289, $17.00)
A History of Russia  •  Nicholas Riasanovsky HISTORY •  2000 •  HARD COVER  • 776 PAGES First published nearly 40 years ago, this comprehensive history of Russia -- now in its sixth edition -- remains a popular survey for students and travelers with a serious interest in history. It's a scholarly, balanced survey from Russia's Kievan origins through Imperial and Soviet Russia to Yeltsin and the new Russian Federation. (RUS130, $56.00)
A History of Russia  •  George Vernadsky HISTORY •  1986 •  PAPER  • 520 PAGES A popular college text. (RUS174, $30.00)
A History of Russian Music, From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar  •  Francis Maes  •  Arnold Pomerans MUSIC •  2001 •  HARD COVER  • 440 PAGES A scholarly social history of Russian music and the influence of notable Russian composers starting in the early 19th century with Mikhail Glinka and covering up through the 1970s with the works of Shostakovich. (RUS223, $60.00)
A History of Twentieth-Century Russia  •  Robert Service HISTORY •  1997 •  PAPER  • 651 PAGES A lively, comprehensive history of modern Russia and particularly the Soviet period, which draws on recent archival material. Perhaps daunting in size, Service skillfully combines scholarship (including much Russian scholarship and primary sources), anecdotes, facts, personality and analysis into a big but thoroughly readable narrative history. With a few maps and drawings, notes and index. (RUS131, $20.95)
House of the Dead  •  Fyodor Dostoevsky  •  David McDuff LITERATURE •  1986 •  PAPER  • 362 PAGES Dostoyevsky's semi-autobiographical novel of a man forced to endure ten years in a Siberian prison for the murder of his wife. Accused as a political subversive, Dostoyevsky himself spent four years in a prison camp. (RUS261, $12.00)
How Russia Shaped the Modern World: From Art to Anti-Semitism, Ballet to Bolshevism  •  Steven G. Marks HISTORY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 408 PAGES This wide-ranging book focuses on Russian contributions to art, literature, politics and ideas of 19th- and 20th-century Europe and America. Marks considers artists and thinkers including Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Diaghilev, Stanislavsky, Kandinsky, and Malevich. (RUS245, $25.95)
I, Maya Plisetskayar  •  Maya Plisetskaya  •  Antonia W. Bouis BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2001 •  HARD COVER  • 448 PAGES A memoir of dance set against a backdrop of political turmoil. Plisetskaya, a prominent Russian ballerina, bitterly describes the persecution of her family and her struggles as an artist under the Soviet Regime. (RUS254, $48.00)
The Icon and the Axe, An Interpretive History of Russian Culture  •  James H. Billington HISTORY •  1970 •  PAPER  • 786 PAGES From Kievan beginnings through 600 years to the Soviet era, this book presents the intellectual currents that have shaped Russia and her traditions. It's a cultural and artistic history, written by the Librarian of Congress: a comprehensive, intellectual investigation of the spiritual and ideological forces that led to the development of Russia. (RUS09, $23.00)
Igor Stravinsky, An Autobiography  •  Igor Stravinsky BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1998 •  PAPER  • 176 PAGES A brief account of the life and work of Stravinsky (1882-1971), by the conductor himself, covering the first 50 years of his life in St. Petersburg, France and Switzerland. Originally published in 1956. (MUS18, $14.95)
Images of Space, St. Petersburg in the Visual and Verbal Arts  •  Grigory Kaganov  •  Sidney Monas ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1997 •  HARD COVER  • 238 PAGES A slim, academic study, featuring 75 black-and-white engravings, paintings and illustrations. This is not an architectural guide to St. Petersburg in the traditional sense. Instead of studying the buildings, parks, and bridges of the historic city, Kaganov delves into changing ideas about spatial representation, looking at the way St. Petersburg's urban spaces -- and the depiction of them in art and literature-- have changed over the centuries. (RUS42, $57.95)
Insight City Guide St. Petersburg  •  Brian Bell GUIDEBOOK •  2005 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES This eyecatching guidebook features beautiful full-color photographs, illuminating area maps, a street atlas and information about transport and accommodations. With a pullout restaurant map guide. (RUS274, $15.95)
Ivan the Terrible  •  Henri Troyat BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2002 •  PAPER  • 288 PAGES The author of biographies of Catherine the Great and Tolstoy, Henri Troyat illuminates the life and fear-inspiring reign of Russia's first czar, the aptly named Ivan the Terrible. (RUS220, $21.95)
Khrushchev, The Man and His Era  •  William Taubman BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2004 •  PAPER  • 908 PAGES A definitive, Pulitzer Prize-winning account of the life of Nikita Khrushchev, which also serves a detailed portrait of Soviet Russia and the legacy of Stalin. Taubman is professor of political science at Amherst (RUS257, $17.95)
Knopf Guide St. Petersburg  •  Knopf Guides GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 318 PAGES This sturdy, lavishly produced guide features hundreds of color photographs, specially commissioned maps and well chosen excerpts from literary masters. It covers the museums, palaces and monuments of St. Petersburg in detail. With select and nicely annotated listings of restaurants, shops and hotels. (RUS31, $27.50)
Knopf Mapguide, St. Petersburg  •  Knopf Guides GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 48 PAGES A practical and handy passport-sized guide to the city, featuring fold-out maps. (RUS319, $10.95)
Kosmos, A Portrait of the Russian Space Age  •  Svetlana Boym  •  Adam Bartos CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2001 •  HARD COVER  • 176 PAGES A portfolio of 100 photographs of the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with an accompanying essay by Harvard professor Svetlana Boym. The somber photographs were taken between 1995 and 1997 in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. (RUS184, $40.00)
Legacies of Twentieth-Century Dance  •  Lynn Garafola CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2005 •  PAPER  • 468 PAGES A marvelously illustrated and scholarly collection of essays on the evolution of dance in the 20th century. The four sections of the book focus on the Ballet Ruses, female dancers, New York as the dance capital of the world and questions of memory and reconstruction. (RUS256, $29.95)
Lenin, A New Biography  •  Dmitri Volkogonov BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1994 •  HARD COVER  • 529 PAGES A well regarded biography. (RUS250, $69.00)
Literary Russia, A Guide  •  Anna Benn  •  Rosamund Bartlett GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  HARD COVER  • 528 PAGES Back in print! Organized geographically, this guide and literary companion includes the homes, museums and literary landmarks of Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Nabokov and other Russian masters. (RUS45, $37.50)
Lonely Planet Russian Phrasebook  •  James Jenkin  •  Inna Zaitseva LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  2006 •  PAPER  • 316 PAGES A handy shirtpocket phrasebook for Russian basics focusing on pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler. (RUS111, $8.99)
Lonely Planet St. Petersburg  •  Lonely Planet GUIDEBOOK •  2005 •  PAPER  • 250 PAGES In its hallmark style, this practical guide to St Petersburg by Lonely Planet features maps, a good overview of culture, history and art, and a great deal of information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. Most of the book focuses on what to see, do, buy and eat in the city. With color photographs and excellent travel information. (RUS280, $21.99)
Lost Opportunity: What has Made Economic Reform in Russia so Difficult?  •  Marshall Goldman HISTORY •  1996 •  PAPER  • 308 PAGES An astute commentator, the author looks at Yeltsin's economic reforms and the changes wrought on the complex Russian economy since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Associate Director of the Davis Center for Russian Studies at Harvard, the author is none too optimistic about the prospects for genuine reform. (RUS64, $13.95)
Making Sense of War, the Second World War and the Fate of the Bolshevik Revolution  •  Amir Weiner HISTORY •  2002 •  PAPER  • 432 PAGES A consideration of WWII and its impact on Russia. (RUS251, $32.95)
Mapping St. Petersburg, Imperial Text and Cityshape  •  Julie A. Buckler CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2007 •  PAPER  • 364 PAGES Buckler explores the literary and conceptual middle ground between Pushkin's glittering, elite St. Petersburg and Dostoevsky's gritty, poor image of the same city. Using its architecture, social history and some less canonical writings about the city, she brings to light a new view of the city. (RUS381, $23.95)
The Master and Margarita  •  Mikhail Bulgakov  •  Mirra Ginsberg LITERATURE •  1987 •  PAPER  • 402 PAGES Hailed as "one of the greatest novels to ever come out of the Soviet Union" by the "New York Times," this book is impossible to categorize. It is part satire, part fairytale, part fable, part slapstick. It was written in the 1930s, the most repressive period of Stalin's reign, as an elaborate allegory to convey Michail Bulgakov's anti-Stalinist message, complete with a main character named Satan who is accompanied by his talking black cat. (RUS44, $11.95)
The Memoirs of Catherine the Great  •  Catherine the Great  •  Mark Cruse  •  Hilde Hoogenboom BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2005 •  HARD COVER  • 352 PAGES Catherine The Great's rule lasted from 1762 until her death in 1796; this collection of her memoirs begins some years before, upon her arrival in Russia as a German princess in 1744. An intimate insight into the life of the world-renowned ruler and her often uneasy adjustment to the world of Russian royalty. (RUS277, $26.95)
Moscow, Governing the Socialist Metropolis  •  Timothy J. Colton HISTORY •  1998 •  PAPER  • 939 PAGES A scholarly, political history of Moscow from frontier town through Tsarist and Soviet transformations to the 1990s by a Harvard professor. It's a big book, nicely written, that will appeal to travelers with a serious interest in history. At almost 1,000 pages with the usual scholarly notes it's not for the feint of heart. (RUS157, $31.50)
Murder on the Leviathan  •  Boris Akunin  •  Andrew Bromfield MYSTERY •  2005 •  PAPER  • 240 PAGES Erast Fandorin, a young diplomat who moonlights as a detective and the hero of Akunin's novel "The Winter Queen" must match wits with the French police commissioner Gustave Gauche to determine which passenger aboard a ship destined for India murdered the Lord Littleby and his ten servants. Akunin pays homage to Agatha Christie with a bizarre and memorable cast of characters in this entertaining page-turner. (RUS225, $12.95)
Natasha's Dance, A Cultural History of Russia  •  Orlando Figes CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2003 •  PAPER  • 768 PAGES In this lively cultural history, Figes looks at both the great works by Russian masters and longstanding folk traditions. The title is drawn from a scene of Tolstoy's War and Peace in which a European-educated countess performs a peasant dance and the monumental work is dedicated to this tension between Asia and Europe, peasants and nobility. (RUS180, $20.00)
National Geographic Traveler St. Petersburg  •  Jeremy Howard GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 272 PAGES (RUS318, $22.95)
Nicholas and Alexandra  •  Robert Massie HISTORY •  2000 •  PAPER  • 613 PAGES This is a fairy tale of true love turned tragic as Tsar Nicholas II, the handsome ruler of one-sixth of the earth, carries on the royal Russian tradition of marrying a German princess, Alexandra of Hesse. Their union produces four daughters and a hemophiliac son, the tsarevitch Alexis, whose disease only the evil monk Rasputin can treat. The stage is set for the downfall of the Romanov dynasty and imperial Russia and the coming of Communism. This entertaining and well-researched history traces the royal relationship and explores how a disease determined the destiny of rulers, the disintegration of the empire, and the course of Russian history. (RUS69, $18.95)
No Fixed Points, Dance in the Twentieth Century  •  Malcolm McCormick  •  Nancy Reynolds CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2003 •  HARD COVER  • 928 PAGES A comprehensive history of 20th century dance in Europe and America. It's a readable, illustrated reference that offers both biographies of major dancers and choreographers, and critical analysis. (RUS255, $60.00)
Notes from Underground  •  Fyodor Dostoevsky  •  Richard Pevear LITERATURE •  1994 •  PAPER  • 160 PAGES "I am a sick man... I am a wicked man." So begins Dostoevsky's darkly funny 1864 novel, an introspective psychological portrait of the Underground Man, one of Dostoevsky's most recognizable protagonists. A rich character study and an excellent glimpse of 19th-century St. Petersburg, "the most abstract and intentional city on the entire globe," written with the unforgettable wit and compassion of the master of Russian literature. (RUS230, $11.95)
Odyssey Guide Moscow, St. Petersburg & The Golden Ring  •  Masha Nordbye  •  Patricia Lanza GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 728 PAGES A comprehensive guide to the art, culture and history of these two great Russian cities, filled with maps and fine color photographs. It also includes a 50-page chapter on the ancient cities of the Golden Ring around Moscow. Third edition. (RUS78, $26.95)
The Oligarchs, Wealth & Power in the New Russia  •  David Hoffman HISTORY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 567 PAGES A scrupulously documented, fascinating account of six businessmen whose profiteering amid the near-anarchy and corruption that followed collapse of the Soviet Union skyrocketed them to positions of immense power in the New Russia. Written by the acclaimed former Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post, it's an engrossing tale of capitalism born from chaos. (RUS159, $21.95)
Passport to Russian  •  Charles Berlitz LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  1992 •  PAPER  • 208 PAGES A basic Russian dictionary and phrasebook for the traveler (which, just in case, includes a section entitled Point to Answer). Organized thematically, common words and expressions are shown in English and Cyrillic with easy-to-decipher phonetic pronunciation. Charles Berlitz (grandson of the founder of the Berlitz Language Schools) is the author. (RUS224, $6.99)
A People's Tragedy, A History of the Russian Revolution  •  Orlando Figes HISTORY •  1998 •  PAPER  • 960 PAGES An engrossing epic narrative of the Russian Revolution through Lenin's death in 1924. While presenting the full scope of the revolution, Figes does not lose sight of the individual personalities, not only the leaders but also the workers, peasants and soldiers. Figes argues that the revolution was a disaster for the ordinary people of Russia. (RUS181, $25.00)
Peter the Great  •  Paul Bushkovitch BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2003 •  PAPER  • 224 PAGES Focusing on Peter's cooperative relationship with the aristocracy, Yale professor Paul Bushkovitch offers a revised view of the legendary modernizer of Russia. Bushkovitch sees Peter as more of a politician than once thought, while no less a dynamic and powerful personality. (RUS169, $24.95)
Peter the Great, His Life and World  •  Robert Massie BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1986 •  PAPER  • 960 PAGES A Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling history of the great Westernizer of Russia. Massie portrays a giant of history on the monumental canvas of Europe as he transforms Russia from backwater tsardom to major empire. In this massive chronicle, he tells of Peter the Great as he travels incognito to the West, builds Russia's navy, defeats Sweden, moves the capital of the country to the newly created St. Petersburg, and modernizes Russia. (RUS11, $8.99)
Peter the Great, Part 1  •  Robert Massie LITERATURE •  CASETTE TAPE  • 16 PAGES Part one of the unabdriged audio version, available on cassette tape only, of Massie's hugely entertaining, authorritative biography, as read by Frederick Davidson. 16 tapes. (RUS328, $99.95)
Peter the Great, Part 2  •  Robert Massie LITERATURE •  CASETTE TAPE Part two of the unabdriged audio version, available on cassette tape only, of Massie's hugely entertaining, authorritative biography, as read by Frederick Davidson. 15 tapes. (RUS329, $95.95)
Pimsleur Quick & Simple Russian  •  Pimsleur Language Method LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  2005 •  AUDIO CD Four audio CDs with eight 30-minute lessons in basic Russian, covering elementary vocabulary and phrases used in travel and everyday situations. The Pimsleur method emphasizes the use of listening skills without reading materials (so there isn't a book to follow along). It's advertised as "Totally audio: hear it, learn it, speak it." (RUS112, $19.95)
Piratization of Russia, Russian Reform Goes Awry  •  Marshall Goldman HISTORY •  2003 •  PAPER  • 288 PAGES The distressing tale of the making of oligarchs in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Goldman is the Associate Director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and the Davis Professor of Russian Economics Emeritus at Wellesley College, and has written widely on contemporary Russian affairs. (RUS211, $41.95)
Pocket Menu Reader Russia  •  Langenscheidt  •  Mario Caramitti LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  2000 •  PAPER  • 189 PAGES A pocket guide to negotiating food and restaurants in Russian with an overview of typical foods, 1,500 words and phrases, transliterations and Cyrillic. (RUS165, $7.95)
The Queen of Spades  •  Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky MUSIC •  1999 •  PAPER  • 800 PAGES The full score of one of Tchaikovsky's most popular operas, his adaptation of Pushkin's short story of the same name. (RUS219, $39.95)
Queer in Russia: A Story of Sex, Self, and the Other  •  Laurie Essig CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1999 •  PAPER  • 254 PAGES An engaging, scholarly portrait of post-perestroika gay culture. The author (who appears in male drag in one of many photographs in the book), interviews many men and women for this insightful study, which also takes into account her own observations, and a close look at contemporary books, plays, and music. Despite Yeltsin's de-crimilization of consensual sex between adults of the same sex in 1993, atitudes and behavios have been slow to change. (RUS146, $22.95)
The Ransom of Russian Art  •  John McPhee CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1998 •  PAPER  • 192 PAGES A fascinating, illustrated account of the underground of Russia during the Cold War. In a break from his series on North American geology, McPhee has chosen to profile Norton Townsend Dodge, a man he originally met on a train, and an unusual collector of dissident Russian art. With his typically compelling style, McPhee writes about a professor who, according to his wife, "couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag," yet managed to smuggle thousands of important works out of Russia. The book includes dozens of color reproductions. (RUS91, $12.00)
Rasputin, The Saint Who Sinned  •  Brian Moynahan BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2000 •  PAPER  • 400 PAGES A juicy biography of the curious mystic, holy man and influential advisor of the Romanovs. The lurid detail and sensational style make for a fun read. Moynahan's scholarly bent and attention to historical events also make this book a good portrait of pre-Revolutionary Russia. Not surprisingly, the author pays particular attention to Rasputin's relationship with the Tsar and Tsarina. Moynahan is the author of three previous books on Russian history. (RUS198, $17.95)
Reading Chekhov, A Critical Journey  •  Janet Malcolm LITERATURE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 205 PAGES An extended essay of Chekhov and his work interweaving literary criticism, biography and a journey to St. Petersburg, Moscow and Yalta -- all significant to the plays, stories and life of Chekhov. (RUS155, $13.95)
The Red Stuff, The True Story of the Russian Race for Space  •  Leo De Boer SCIENCE •  1999 •  DVD  • 1 PAGES The dramatic tale of the early cosmonauts and the Russian Space Program, which in the years between 1957 and 1965 launched the first satellite, sent the living being (a dog) and the first man into space and made the first space walk. DE Boer, a Dutch documentary film maker, intercuts archival material, contemporary shots of Space City and interviews with some of the original cosmonauts. With English subtitles. The DVD includes Starman, the story of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. (RUS265, $19.95)
The Reforms of Peter the Great, Progress through Coercion in Russia  •  Evgenii Anisimov  •  John Alexander HISTORY •  1993 •  PAPER  • 344 PAGES Russian historian Evgenii Anisimov writes of Peter the Great, and how his various reforms shaped early 18th-century Russia. (RUS102, $32.95)
Resurrection, The Struggle for a New Russia  •  David Remnick HISTORY •  1998 •  PAPER  • 352 PAGES Remnick, the Washington Post reporter who won the Pulitzer Prize for Lenin's Tomb (on the fall of the Soviet Union), insightfully explores the powers shaping a new Russia. Remnick focuses on the emergence of a new power elite, but does not neglect the effect of these changes on the welfare of the Russian people. Chronologically, the book follows the ruins of the USSR, up to the 1996 elections. (RUS23, $16.00)
The Rise of Russia and the Fall of the Soviet Empire  •  John Dunlop HISTORY •  1995 •  PAPER  • 394 PAGES A modern scholarly history of Russia from Perestroika to the abortive coup of August 1991 and dissolution of the Soviet Union. Dunlop, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, explores Yeltsin's role in resisting Communist resurgence and questions whether new institutions will survive the challenges of democracy in a traditionally undemocratic society. (RUS68, $37.50)
The Romanovs, The Final Chapter  •  Robert Massie HISTORY •  1995 •  PAPER  • 308 PAGES Written like a good detective story, this riveting scientific thriller examines the evidence and international dispute linking the skeletons exhumed in 1991 in Siberia with the last of the Romanovs killed in the early period of the Russian Revolution. Are these the remains of the last tsar and his family, and was Anna Anderson really the Grand Duchess Anastasia as she claimed? This book provides definitive answers to one of the most enduring and intriguing mysteries of the 20th century. (RUS14, $15.95)
Rough Guide Moscow  •  Rough Guide GUIDEBOOK •  2005 •  PAPER  • 468 PAGES A comprehensive, no-nonsense guide to the culture, history and attractions of Moscow. With fll colcor maps of Central Moscow and the Metro system, dozens of sketch maps and site diagrams, and a chapter on excursions outside of Moscow. (RUS129, $16.99)
Rough Guide St. Petersburg  •  Dan Richardson GUIDEBOOK •  2008 •  PAPER  • 534 PAGES An extensive guide to St. Petersburg in the hip, literate and very infomative Rough Guide style. It's divided cleanly between practical information and illuminating background on culture and history. (RUS372, $18.99)
The Routledge Atlas of Russian History  •  Martin Gilbert HISTORY •  2007 •  PAPER  • 216 PAGES A fantastically interesting, useful survey of the history of Russia in 161 maps, covering rebellion and exile, famine, expansion, trade, the military, the collapse of communism and myriad other topics, all succinctly presented. This revised edition follows the fate of Russia since the demise of the Soviet Union. Each black-and-white map is densely printed with factual information and accompanies by a detailed key and a few paragraphs of text. (RUS176, $29.95)
Russia and the Russians, A History  •  Geoffrey Hosking HISTORY •  2003 •  PAPER  • 768 PAGES This ambitious history, the latest by a leading British University scholar, tackles with clarity the scope and breadth of the Russian empire from its Kievan beginnings through Imperial expansion, revolution and the Soviet period all the way to the 21st century. Hosking takes as his focus the Russian character, paying special attention to non-Russian ethnic groups scattered across Eurasia. This book follows and expands on Hosking's Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917. (RUS208, $23.00)
Russia from St. Petersburg to Moscow Map  •  Falk Maps MAP A detailed map of northwest Russia, from the Baltic, east to just beyond Moscow at a scale of 1:750,000. For those on a river cruise between St. Petersburg and Moscow, this is, by far, the most detailed map. It does, however, omit the northernmost part of the trip (three days) from Goritsy to Svir Story. It does not show the White Lake, the Volga-Baltic Waterway, Lake Onega, Svir River and portions of Lake Lagoda. Published mostly in German. (RUS06, $14.95)
The Russia Hand, a Memoir of Presidential Diplomacy  •  Strobe Talbott HISTORY •  2003 •  PAPER  • 478 PAGES An insider's view of the Clinton administration's role in Russia's transition from communism to democracy. Strobe Talbott was President Clinton's top advisor on Russia policy, and he gives intimate details on not only diplomatic issues, but also the characters involved, not least Boris Yeltsin and Clinton himself. (RUS234, $16.95)
The Russia House  •  John Le Carre LITERATURE •  2000 •  PAPER  • 434 PAGES The spymaster sets his sights on post-glasnost Russia in this suspenseful novel of love and espionage delivered with traditional Le Carrean panache. The backdrop of Gorbachev's restructuring paints a portrait of life in Moscow for Easterners and Westerners alike in the final decade of the Soviet Union. (RUS186, $7.99)
Russia in Search of Itself  •  James H. Billington HISTORY •  2004 •  HARD COVER  • 256 PAGES A wise and probing analysis of modern Russia by the Librarian of Congress and expert on Russia James Billington. Copublished by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. (RUS229, $24.95)
Russia in Search of Itself  •  James H. Billington HISTORY •  2004 •  HARD COVER  • 256 PAGES A wise and probing analysis of modern Russia by the Librarian of Congress and expert on Russia James Billington. Copublished by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. (RUS229, $24.95)
Russia in Space, The Failed Frontier?  •  Brian Harvey HISTORY •  2001 •  PAPER  • 416 PAGES In this wide-ranging guide to the Russian space program, Harvey takes readers from the program's conception in 1921, through its golden age, near ruin with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and tentative steps into the 21st century. He considers especially Russia's leading role in the International Space Station. (RUS182, $44.95)
Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great  •  Isabel De Madariaga HISTORY •  2002 •  PAPER  • 712 PAGES A classic, monumental history of 18th-century Russia by a leading scholar, originally published in 1982. De Madariaga tackles the nature, personality and politics of Catherine the Great and the country she ruled. She has also written a condensed version, Catherine the Great, A Short History. (RUS144, $21.95)
Russia in the Age of Peter the Great  •  Lindsey Hughes BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2000 •  PAPER  • 640 PAGES A biography of Peter the Great and an account of Russia in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Comprehensive, readable and impeccably researched, the strength of this book is in how it illuminates both Peter's life and his time. (RUS103, $90.00)
Russia Map  •  International Travel Maps MAP This double-sided map at a scale of 1:6,000,000 shows Russia and the former republics of the Soviet Union as far as the Yenisey river on one side with the remainder of Eastern Russia on the reverse. With relief shading, roads and railways. Place names are Romanized (no Cyrillic). (RUS264, $11.95)
Russia's Heritage Cities  •  International Travel Maps 2002 •  MAP A nicely detailed map for travelers of the cities of the Golden Ring at a scale of 1:500,000. The double-side maps shows the historic region northeast of Moscow on one side, with city plans of Sergiev Posad, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Uglich, Vladimir, Suzdal, Kostroma and Pereslavl-Zalessky on the reverse. (RUS217, $8.95)
Russia's Unfinished Revolution, Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin  •  Michael McFaul HISTORY •  2001 •  PAPER  • 383 PAGES A political history and analysis of Russian democracy and institutions since the Gorbechev era, especially strong on Yeltsin. The author, a senior associate at Carnegie, teaches political science at Stanford. (RUS160, $21.00)
Russia, Experiment With a People  •  Robert Service HISTORY •  2006 •  PAPER  • 406 PAGES An authoritative survey of the transformation of Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union, organized thematically. Service casts a wide net, looking at not just political and economic change but also the influence of society, culture and belief. (RUS284, $20.00)
Russia, People and Empire, 1552-1917  •  Geoffrey Hosking HISTORY •  1998 •  PAPER  • 548 PAGES Historian Geoffrey Hosking writes elegently and vehemently on the history of Russia under the czars. Hosking argues that Imperial Russia pursued empire building at the expense of national identity. (RUS29, $22.50)
Russian Ark  •  Alexander Sokurov CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2002 •  DVD A remarkable film, not just because the entire 96 minutes of the film was shot in one continuous take but also for its fantastic images of the Hermitage and its collection, playful sense of time and cast of thousands. The film is billed as 2,000 Actors, 300 years of Russian History, and 33 Rooms at the Hermitage, and 3 Live Orchestras, all in 1 Single Continuous Shot. (RUS237, $19.95)
The Russian Century, A History of the Last Hundred Years  •  Brian Moynahan CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1994 •  PAPER  • 272 PAGES A lively survey of Russian history and people from the Tsars through the Revolution, the dark days of Stalin, the Cold War and the tumultuous events of the 1990s by a British historian and journalist. With a few black-and-white photographs. (RUS167, $16.95)
Russian Experiment in Art, 1863-1922  •  Camilla Gray  •  Marian Burleigh-Motley ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1998 •  PAPER  • 324 PAGES A handsome illustrated volume in the "World of Art" series, this book documents a critical period in the history of Russian art in a series of insightful essays and hundreds of color illustrations. Organized chronologically, it's an excellent guide to the extraordinary art of Kasimir Malevich, Alexander Rodchenko, and other masters of the Russian avant-garde. Completely revised for this edition. (RUS17, $18.95)
Russian Folk Art  •  Alison Hilton ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1995 •  HARD COVER  • 356 PAGES An illustrated study of Russian folk art from traditional forms to modern interpretations. (RUS104, $27.95)
The Russian Heritage Cookbook  •  Lynn Visson FOOD •  2004 •  HARD COVER  • 320 PAGES A guide to Russian cooking for the modern kitchen, covering everything from delicacies to down-home favorites, and every inch authentic. Visson is well-informed about the history and culture surrounding these 360 recipes, and the book is divided into helpful chapters such as "Zakuski" and "Pirogs and Pancakes." A revised edition of Visson's The Complete Russian Cookbook, Visson introduces each section with anecdotes, history and practical tips. (RUS233, $28.95)
A Russian Journal  •  John Steinbeck  •  Robert Capa TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1999 •  PAPER  • 240 PAGES During the Cold War, amidst an abundance of paranoia, Steinbeck and Capa decided to gather un-propagandized information on the Russian way of life by traveling to the other side of the Iron Curtain. This is the result of their reporting project, an honest account of the people and everyday life, with striking photographs by the great Robert Capa. (RUS275, $15.00)
The Russian Museum, A Centennial Celebration of a National Treasure  •  Vladimir Gusyev  •  Yevgenia Petrova ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1998 •  HARD COVER  • 286 PAGES An overview of Russian art from 989 to present, highlighting the collection of The Russian Museum. Includes many unfamiliar works largely unknown outside of Russia. An informative text accompanies 295 color plates. (RUS199, $60.00)
Russian Phrasebook & Dictionary  •  Hippocrene LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  1994 •  PAPER  • 228 PAGES A handy phrasebook and basic dictionary featuring transliterations of all the Russian words. (RUS65, $11.95)
Russian Short Stories  •  Robert Chandler LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 396 PAGES • NEW Part of the Penguin Classics series, this anthology brings together literature from the most important Russian writers of the last two centuries, including well-known authors like Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Chekhov and Tolstoy and lesser-known greats like Zoshchenko (a Soviet satirist), Teffi (a female humorist who escaped after the October Revolution) and Varlam Shalamov (a Gulag survivor). (RUS288, $17.00)
The Russian's World, Life and Language  •  Geneva Gerhart CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2002 •  PAPER  • 419 PAGES A classic, scholarly introduction to Russian language, literature, history, and culture, from nineteenth century literature to contemporary society. (RUS320, $39.95)
Russian, Start Speaking Today!  •  Language/30 LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  1995 •  AUDIO CD A 90-minute crash course with a CD and phrasebook, all packaged in a vinyl sleeve. Geared for travelers, the course follows the foreign service method -- which focuses on dialogues and useful sentences instead of individual words. In each case, an English phrase is spoken once, and repeated twice in Russian. Topics include introductions, transportation, business and health. Na zdorovye! (RUS192, $21.95)
Russka  •  Edward Rutherfurd LITERATURE •  2005 •  PAPER  • 946 PAGES In this absorbing, complex novel Rutherfurd transforms Russian history into an epic saga. The bestseller follows the fate of interconnected families over 800 years. Genghis Khan, Ivan the Terrible, Catherine the Great, Tolstoy, Voltaire, Pushkin, Lenin, Stalin, and Rasputin all make an appearance. (RUS175, $19.00)
Saint Petersburg, Museums Palaces and Historic Collections  •  Cathy Giangrande  •  John Julius Norwich GUIDEBOOK •  2003 •  HARD COVER  • 96 PAGES An illustrated guide to cultural attractions. (RUS338, $12.95)
The Sexual Revolution in Russia, From the Age of the Czars to Today  •  Igor Kon HISTORY •  1995 •  HARD COVER  • 337 PAGES A groundbreaking, fascinating history of sex, sexuality and attitudes in Russia from Tsarist times through the communist period -- and the accompanying repression of the sexual lives of the Russians -- to the post-perestroika transformation. The author, a historian in Russia and its first "sexologist," draws on history, folklore, literature and sociological data derived from the author's surveys and interviews. (RUS147, $25.50)
Sleeping Beauty, A Legend in Progress  •  Tim Scholl CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2004 •  HARD COVER  • 272 PAGES A history of Sleeping Beauty in the context of 20th century Russian Ballet -- and the surprisingly controversial response to a 1999 production. (RUS253, $37.00)
Soviet Blitzkrieg, The Battle for White Russia, 1944  •  Walter S. Dunn HISTORY •  2000 •  HARD COVER  • 252 PAGES A history of the Russian campaign to regain control of Belarus from the invading Germans. A monumental battle staged in 1944, the details of events have finally come to light thanks to the release of previously classified military documents. (RUS121, $55.00)
Stalin, Breaker of Nations  •  Robert Conquest BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1992 •  PAPER  • 384 PAGES A well known biography by Robert Conquest. (RUS249, $17.00)
Stalin, The Court of the Red Tsar  •  Simon Sebag Montefiore BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2005 •  PAPER  • 848 PAGES An exhaustively researched "man-behind-the-monster" look at Joseph Stalin and his court. At 800 pages, there is ample room for personal and anecdotal information about Stalin -- down to his musical preferences -- as well as the gory details of the vicious politics and sexual quirks of the cast of characters that made up Stalin's political family. The lengthy volume includes new archival material, interviews with surviving figures of the era, and 24 pages of maps and photos. Montefiore has also written a biography of Prince Grigory Potemkin. (RUS228, $19.95)
Stalingrad, The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943  •  Antony Beevor HISTORY •  1999 •  PAPER  • 491 PAGES (RUS297, $18.00)
Tales of Belkin and Other Prose Writings  •  Ale