RUSS 053: Contemporary Russian Culture (SC)

There are alphabetical and chronological lists for 273 authors, 13 introductory essays on various aspects of Russian literature, and a Russian/English title index. The Handbook to Russian Literature (REF PG2940.H29 1985) is more comprehensive than this guide however both books belong in every library that supports Russian literature studies.

Beginning with traditional Russian narratives (saints' lives, folk tales, epic and rogue narratives), the book moves through literary history chronologically and thematically, juxtaposing literary texts from each major period. Detailed attention is given to canonical writers including Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Bulgakov and Solzhenitsyn, as well as to some current bestsellers from the post-Communist period.

A three volume encyclopedia, volume one of the Cambridge History of Russia covers the period from early ('Kievan') Rus' to the start of Peter the Great's reign in 1689. The second volume covers the imperial period (1689-1917) addressing such themes as women, law, the Orthodox Church, the police and the revolutionary movement. The third volume provides a political, intellectual, social and cultural history of Russia and the Soviet Union during the twentieth century.

The four-volume Encyclopedia of Russian History spans the time from the earliest beginnings of the Russian nation to the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, providing a comprehensive discussion of Russia's people, politics, economics, religion and social systems.

The complex and often turbulent history of Russia over the course of 2,000 years is brought to life in a series of 176 maps.