The years of late Stalinism are one of the murkiest periods in Soviet history, best known to us through the voices of Ehrenburg, Khrushchev and Solzhenitsyn. This is a sweeping history of Russia from the end of the war to the Thaw by one of Russia's respected younger historians. Drawing on the resources of newly opened archives as well as the recent outpouring of published diaries and memoirs, Elena Zubkova presents a richly detailed portrayal of the basic conditions of people's lives in Soviet Russia from 1945 to 1957. She brings out the dynamics of postwar popular expectations and the cultural stirrings set in motion by the wartime experience versus the regime's determination to reassert command over territories and populations and the mechanisms of repression. Her interpretation of the period establishes the context for the liberalizing and reformist impulses that surfaced in the post-Stalin succession struggle, characterizing what would be the formative period for a future generation of leaders: Gorbachev, Yeltsin and their contemporaries.

This new edition of the Oxford Russian Minidictionary offers up-to-date coverage of essential day-to-day vocabulary with over 40,000 words and phrases, and 60,000 translations.
The new phrasefinder feature provides an instant safety net when you travel, providing super fast access to all the words and expressions you need for everyday situations--shopping, traveling, asking for directions, or finding a place to stay. A brand-new menu-reader section has been added so you know exactly what you're getting to eat, and the new conversion charts for distance, weights and measures, and clothing and shoe sizes make traveling abroad easier than ever before. Also included is a guide to the characters of the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet.
All of these features are packed into a pocket-sized, durable format with a hard-wearing vinyl cover, making these dictionaries ideal for business people, travellers, and students. The Oxford Russian Minidictionary is your perfect mini-guide to understanding Russian.

The monumental battles of World War II's Eastern Front--Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk--are etched into the historical record. But there is another, hidden history of that war that has too often been ignored in official accounts.

Boris Gorbachevsky was a junior officer in the 31st Army who first saw front-line duty as a rifleman in the 30th Army. Through the Maelstrom recounts his three harrowing years on some of the war's grimmest but forgotten battlefields: the campaign for Rzhev, the bloody struggle to retake Belorussia, and the bitter final fighting in East Prussia. As he traces his experiences from his initial training, through the maelstrom, to final victory, he provides one of the richest and most detailed memoirs of life and warfare on the Eastern Front.

Gorbachevsky's panoramic account takes us from infantry specialist school to the front lines to rear services areas and his whirlwind romances in wartime Moscow. He recalls the shriek of Katiusha rockets flying overhead toward the enemy and the unforgettable howl of Stukas divebombing Soviet tanks. And he conveys horrors of brutal fighting not recorded previously in English, including his own participation in a human wave assault that decimated his regiment at Rzhev, with piles of corpses growing the closer they got to the German trenches.

Gorbachevsky also records the sufferings of the starving citizens of Leningrad, the savage execution of a Russian scout who turned in false information, the killing of an innocent German trying to welcome the Soviet troops, and a chilling campfire discussion by four Russian soldiers as they compared notes about the women they'd raped. His memoir brims with rich descriptions of daily army life, the challenges of maintaining morale, and relationships between soldiers. It also includes candid exposés of the many problems the Red Army faced: the influence of political officers, the stubbornness of senior commanders, the attrition through desertions, and the initial months of occupation in postwar Germany.

Through the Maelstrom features the swiftly moving narrative and rich dialogue associated with the grand style of great Russian literature. Ultimately, it provides a fitting and final testament to soldiers who fought and died in anonymity.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

This communicative, "natural approach" to introductory Russian emphasizes reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Everyday topics are presented to allow readers to begin communicating immediately. Grammar is presented as a necessary tool for communication and is introduced throughout. The book aims at comparing and contrasting cultures, rather than presenting the target culture only.

Inspired by an image of Christ’s suffering, Fyodor Dostoyevsky set out to portray "a truly beautiful soul" colliding with the brutal reality of contemporary society. Returning to St. Petersburg from a Swiss sanatorium, the gentle and naive Prince Myshkin—known as "the idiot"—pays a visit to his distant relative General Yepanchin and proceeds to charm the General and his circle. But after becoming infatuated with the beautiful Nastasya Filippovna, Myshkin finds himself caught up in a love triangle and drawn into a web of blackmail, betrayal, and, ultimately, murder. This new translation by David McDuff is sensitive to the shifting registers of the original Russian, capturing the nervous, elliptic flow of the narrative for a new generation of readers.

This brand-new guide to Russian grammar and verbs provides clear and simple explanations of today's written and spoken Russian. Comprehensive and easy to use, with coverage of all the key points of Russian grammar, it is the ideal support book for any Russian language course and is ideal for use with Oxford's Take off in Russian and other audio language learning packs. Thousands of examples in an instantly accessible layout show how the language works. Detailed tables of regular and irregular Russian verbs feature ultra-clear explanations and an easy-access design. Finally, all grammatical terms are explained in a glossary.

The biggest fear of watching someone die is fear of the unknown; not knowing what dying will be like or when death will actually occur. The booklet "Gone From My Sight" explains in a simple, gentle yet direct manner the process of dying from disease. Dying from disease is not like it is portrayed in the movies. Yet movies, not life, have become our role models. Death from disease is not happenstance. It doesn't just occur; there is a process. People die in stages of months, weeks, days and hours. "Gone From My Sight" is literature used to reduce fear and uncertainty; to neutralize the fear associated with dying. It is designed to help people understand dying, their own or someone else's.

Details the invasion of Russia by Napoleon and his army.