Russia

Materials from Russia

Russia: The People

After years of unemployment and crushing inflation, Russians are looking to the future with hope of a new prosperity. This colorful revised edition takes a look at the new middle class and how the culture has been changing since the country

Russia: The Land

This new revised edition of Russia: the Land takes a fresh look at this country’s transformation over the past century. Russia’s economic growth has had an impact on the environment and on the ways of life of its peoples.

The Lost Crown

Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia–like the fingers on a hand, Tatiana the tallest, Anastasia the smallest, Maria the one most desperate for a ring. These are the daughters of the Tsar, the daughters of the last royal Russian family. The book tracks this loving cluster of sisters from the decks of their yacht to the prison walls of their final home. What do abdication and revolution mean to these young women? Told through each of their voices in alternating chapters, we see their day-to-day lives, in many ways, remain the same; they dote on their dogs, flirt with the soldiers, and are followed constantly by guards. But their desires for the future have all but disappeared. As conditions worsen and the provisional government loses power to the Bolsheviks, the girls huddle together to make sense of what is happening. At the same time hopeful and hopeless, naÏve and wise, their voices become a chorus singing the final song of Imperial Russia.

R Is for Russia

From Dacha to Winter Palace, from Easter Eggs to Kremlin, here is a photographic alphabet of everything we love best about Russia. The Russian Federation is a vast land of forests and steppes, deserts, rivers, lakes and big cities. Over centuries of splendour, revolution and change, our country has produced some of the greatest scientists, sportsmen and women, writers, dancers and composers in the world. As you turn the pages of this book, you will see many of the things which make Russia so special: its fine palaces and churches, its musical and cultural traditions, its magnificent scenery and spectacular winter landscapes – and you will also see the food, the sports, as well as ordinary Russian people going about their everyday lives.

Between Shades of Gray

In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia. Her father is sentenced to death in a prison camp while she fights for her life, vowing to honor her family in a labor camp.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 4, Issue 2

Joy to the World!: Christmas Stories from around the Globe

All over the world, there is a wealth of fascinating traditions and legends surrounding the Christmas story. Here are five festive folk tales, retold by Saviour Pirotta, originating from places as far-flung as Mexico and the Middle East, Northern Europe and North Africa. Sheila Moxley’s vivid artwork adds to the seasonal spirit, making this a true celebration of Christmas, throughout the world.

Read how the lost little camel’s perseverance, resourcefulness and bravery led him back to his mother and baby Jesus’ manger; How an old Baker woman’s kindness and ingenuity saves the life of Baby Jesus and feeds a starving village; The story of a how a goatherding father and daughter, guided by angels, journey to meet the newborn Saviour and present him with weeds that have been transformed into beautiful red Christmas flowers; How selfless little Kumbi puts the needs of others before her own and is rewarded with a gourd of overflowing water to replenish supplies amid drought in her village; Lastly, a Russian variation of the Father Christmas story, where Babushka delivers presents to children from her bottomless basket of toys.

Anastasia’s Secret

“Will I never see you again either?” I asked, feeling as though I was about to jump off a high mountain peak and hope to land without hurting myself. That’s how impossible everything seemed at that moment, no matter what I did. “Perhaps we will meet again,” Sasha said, softening his voice. “But you must see that it does not matter. You have so much ahead of you. It’s your choice now. Choose the future! Choose life!” For Anastasia Romanov, life as the privileged daughter of Russia’s last tsar is about to be torn apart by the bloodshed of revolution. Ousted from the imperial palace when the Bolsheviks seize control of the government, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia. But even while the rebels debate the family’s future with agonizing slowness and the threat to their lives grows more menacing, romance quietly blooms between Anastasia and Sasha, a sympathetic young guard she has known since childhood. But will the strength of their love be enough to save Anastasia from a violent death? Inspired by the mysteries that have long surrounded the last days of the Romanov family, Susanne Dunlap’s new novel is a haunting vision of the life—and love story—of Russia’s last princess.

Hamzat’s Journey

This third book in the Refugee Journeys series follows the story of a boy from Chechnya. In 2001 when Chechens were at war with Russia, he was on his way to school in the capital Grozny when he stepped on a landmine. His leg had to be amputated and eventually he and his father went to the UK for expert treatment and fitting of an artifical leg. As it was unsafe for them to return to Chechnya, the family sought asylum in the UK. Eventually Hamzat’s mother and sister joined them in London and now the family are learning to adapt to their new life after the horror of living in a war zone. This poignant and at times harrowing story reveals the bravery of Hamzat and his family in facing and overcoming their circumstances to start a new life. Simply told and atmospherically illustrated with photographs and colour illustrations, this is a powerful book that will move all who read it. Other titles in the series: Gervelie’s Journey, Mohammed’s Journey