Literature

A definitive collection of short works by the popular Soviet satirist includes pieces that give expression to the experiences of everyday citizens in the buerecratic leviathin that was the Soviet Union.

The Romanov Brides is a moving and fascinating portrait of two bold and spirited royal sisters, and brings to vivid life imperial Russia—a dazzling, decadent world on the brink of disappearing forever. 

A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Tolstoy's great Russian epic. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

A stunning debut collection of fiction and creative nonfiction— irreverent and unglorified; loving and tender; uncomfortable and inconvenient—by a Ukrainian writer currently fighting for his country in Kyiv

Nearly thirty years after the fall of the USSR, the word "Soviet" should be meaningless. Strangely, though, it endures, former Soviet environs define themselves for or against it. Does that experience mean anything today? This book attempts to find out.

A vivid and illuminating novel about faith, fate, and freedom against the backdrop of 1970s Soviet life, Lost Believers is an unforgettable journey.

In Lenin, Lars T. Lih presents a striking new interpretation of Lenin’s political beliefs and strategies. A vivid, non-ideological portrait, Lenin is an essential look at one of the key figures of modern history.

Bird traces Dostoevsky’s path from his harsh childhood through his years as a political revolutionary and finally to his development into a writer, who fought his battles through the printed word.

Setting aside clichés of Tchaikovsky as a tortured homosexual and naively confessional artist, hits book paints a new and vivid portrait of the composer that weaves together insights into his music with a sensitive account of his inner emotional life.

In Leon Trotsky, Paul Le Blanc delves deep into Trotsky’s life and relationships to reveal and make sense of his complex character and decisive actions.

Part memoir, part social history, Parisian Days reads like a novel and feels timely and relevant. Told with vivacious wit and life, this companion to Days in the Caucasus is a bittersweet portrayal of youthful dreams, and the elusive search for happiness.

Death of the Red Rider