Determined to overreach his humanity and assert his untrammelled individual will, Raskolnikov, an impoverished student living in the St. Petersburg of the Tsars, commits an act of murder and theft and sets into motion a story which, for its excrutiating suspense, its atmospheric vividness, and its profundity of characterization and vision, is almost unequaled in the literatures of the world. The best known of Dostoevsky's masterpieces, Crime and Punishment...

Russian Central Asia is the vast area, half as large as the United States, extending from the Caspian Sea to China, from Siberia to northern Iran. Ever since its conquest by Russia in the nineteenth century this region has been both an asset and a problem-because of its strategic and economic importance and because of its several million Moslem inhabitants, to this day unassimilated and unreconciled to Russian control. This book describes events under...

As the war in the Balkans nears its end, Prince Sergei Fedorcenko returns to St. Petersburg and to his love, Anna Burenin, whose brother, Paul, has joined the revolutionaries. Torn between love for her family and devotion to the Fedorcenkos, Anna's faith is her only comfort as she tries to keep those closest to her--and all of Russia--from becoming a house divided.

Three Sisters (1900) is a drama in four acts by Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov. It was first performed at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1901, directed by acclaimed actor Konstantin Stanislavski-who also played the role of Aleksandr Ignatyevich Vershinin, a philosophizing artillery officer in love with middle Prozorov sister Masha. Reviews were mixed at first, but as the play continued to run, Three Sisters became a popular success,...

As Russia plunges from World War I into revolution, the tragic events of Bloody Sunday leave their stain upon the nation--and the Fedorcenko family. After a devastating loss, the Fedorcenkos struggle with their grief and find their loyalties in the conflict divided. Will their bond be strong enough to endure the trials of civil war?

Lifts the veil of secrecy from several areas of Rachmaninoff's life, especially concerning the genesis of his compositions and how their critical reception affected him.

From the time of the decline of the Mongol Golden Horde to the end of the 18th century, the Russian government expanded its influence and power throughout its southern borderlands. The process of incorporating these lands and peoples into the Russian Empire was not only a military and political struggle but also a contest between the conceptual worlds of the indigenous peoples and the Russians. Drawing on sources and archival materials in Russian...