A Hippie's Take On Dacha Life
by By John Wendle
10 April 2008
The domed shadow of a collapsing church fell across the frozen mud road of the village of Dubrovki. Three horses stamped silently in the moonlight, waiting to take their riders across the Kholokholnya River to Uncle Pasha"s dacha....

The Secret World of the Russian Icon
by By Nathalie Cooper
20 May 2007
The group meets once a week in one of the members' flats. They arrive one by one, chattering and laughing as they take off their outer garments. But as they proceed to the dining-room they leave the outside world behind: each pulls out a wooden ...

Tolstoy heir
by Joseph Epstein
05 May 2007
No people have been put to the tests of suffering the way Russians have. They have never known anything approaching decent government. Czars or commissars, their leaders have always treated them as if they were a conquered nation. Even now, after t...

Original Sinner A new book by Robert Gellately places Lenin alongside Hitler and Stalin in the 20th century
by Lars T. Lih
Without a hint of moral scruple or sense of national loyalty, Lenin desperately hoped for Russia's defeat in the First World War." It's the "without a hint" that is the giveaway in this introductory statement: This is going to be one of those books a...

All in the Family Politics were personal for the three cousins who led Russia, Germany and Britain to war in 1914, a new book by Catrine Clay shows.
by By Virginia Rounding
Three cousins, Willy, Nicky and Georgie, met for the last time at a wedding celebration in 1913. They had known one another since they were children, and had a plethora of relatives in common. Nicky and Georgie were particularly fond of each other --...

Raiders Seizing Prime Farm Land
by By Alina Travina and Sergei Fyodorov
The day is not far away when the rural areas surrounding Moscow will no longer be dotted by hamlets and villages and agricultural enterprises. In their place will rise cottages and villas belonging to the wealthy of Moscow and its environs. Tod...

First Person
by By Joyce Man
Anatoly Koklenkov, 61, Lenin impersonator: I have been Lenin for 13 years. I was the first Lenin, and then others came. "People have always told me I looked like Lenin. But I began this line of work as a result of what happened many years ...

Living History
by By Lyubov Korotetskaya
Today, the Solovetsky Islands are largely forgotten bits of land at the ends of the earth. For those who do pay a visit to these parts usually go to see the 16th century Transfiguration Monastery. Other interesting sites include the Northern Sp...

Dig Those Artifacts!
by By Anton Razmakhnin
The people of Moscow can rejoice: our city has caught up with Veliky Novgorod. Birch bark documents have been found in Moscow. Extensive excavation work at the Kremlin this summer has uncovered two such letters, which confirms that not only Novgorod ...

10 Things to Know about Moscow
by By Robert Bridge
Okay, without further ado, here is a list of 10 things to know while in the Russian capital. 10. Do not waste your time in Moscow trying to understand the line (queue) system. The very best anthropologists and sociologists have failed to make sense ...