Search Results: Russia from Louise Aird

This is the second edition of this book; the first was in Russian. This is the first English edition. It's an interesting piece of post-WWII Soviet history.

It was published in 1947 by the The Foreign Languages Publishing House, a state-run publisher in the Soviet Union that published Russian literature,novels, propaganda, and books about the USSR in foreign languages, including works by Lenin and Stalin. It was disbanded in 1964.

The Story: I can't say what the story is about; there are no summaries available. The few online reviews say that it's "exciting and well-written", that it provides very good historical and culture insight, and that the illustrations are ethnographically correct.
Its context is that the Soviets had just abolished forced marriage and bride pricing, and made waged labour more attractive (between the war and Stalin's purges, the workforce had lost its enthusiasm). This novel was apparently intended to be, and succeeding in being, encouraging to workers… Read More

August 1914
is a novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) about the defeat of the Imperial Russian Army at the Battle of Tannenberg in East Prussia. The novel is an unusual blend of fiction narrative and historiography, and has given rise to extensive and often bitter controversy, both from the literary as well as from the historical point of view.
The book was translated and published in 1972, by Bodley Head. Its sales were such that two more printings were quickly completed, all in 1972. This is a copy from the 3rd printing.
In 1974, Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the Soviet Union and, two years after that, he moved to the USA, where he began to revise this story. In 1984, a new version, much expanded, was published, making the first book a limited edition.
The dust jacket is in very good shape, with normal wear. (That white mark you see below '1914' is half of the price tag. I scraped the other half off with my fingernail.) Someone has taped the top and bottom of the spine, quite… Read More

This is a first edition (1966) of The Birds Fall Down, by the English writer Rebecca West (Dame Cicily Fairfield 1892-1983). It was published that year by Viking; this copy was issued by the Book of the Month club the same year.It is a political thriller, historical novel and family saga. A psychological mystery about Russian revolutionaries preparing to overthrow the Tsarist regime.435 pages.As you can see, the dust jacket is not in good shape. There was a splash to the spine. That carried through to the spine of the book, which is not stained but is a little wrinkled. The covers are unmarked, with no damage of any kind.Inside, the book is in perfect condition.

This is a stated first edition (1978) of A Captive of Time: My Years With Pasternak. It is the memoirs of the Russian poet Olga Ivinskaya (1912-1995), who was Boris Pasternak's mistress and the woman upon whom 'Lara' is based, in Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago.
462 pages, lots of photos
There are a few little marks here and there, just on the covers and I think it's dust.
The original owner signed the front endpaper.
Minor wear to the dust jacket.
Otherwise perfect condition.

This is Chekhov: Stories I (or Anton Chekhov, Stories Volume I) published in 1969 by Edito Service for Heron Books. See photo 5 for Contents.It is dark red leather (or leatherette, I'm not sure) with an ornate gold design on the cover and spine. There is a bound-in yellow silk bookmark. There are many original black and white illustrations by Janina Ede, including one of the author. No shelfwear.It is in mint condition, except that the previous owner did a poor job of removing his bookplate, which was on the front endpaper. So you'll have to put your own bookplate on that page, to cover the space where his was.Other than that, it's perfect. Gorgeous book.

The Crimean War was a brutal conflict fought from October 1853 to February 1856 in which Russia lost to an alliance made up of the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, Sardinia and France. The immediate cause of the war involved the rights of Christian minorities in the Holy Land, then a part of the Ottoman Empire. Drawing on eye witness accounts, and the brilliant, disruptive reports of the first-ever war correspondent W H Russell of the Times. Includes some of the first war photographs ever taken. This is the first Granada Publishing re-print; it was first published in the same year by Hart-Davis MacGibbon.The dust jacket is in poor condition. There is a little fading to the top of the cover. Inside, the book is in perfect condition.NOTE: My quoted price for shipping OUTSIDE of North America is for surface mail without tracking. For other shipping options, please contact me.

This is a near-perfect copy of Crime and Punishment, by the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881). He wrote it in 1866; it remains one of the most influential and widely-read novels in Russian literature. It is the story of a man who commits a murder and is then tortured by guilt.
This copy was published in the US in 2000. It does not appear to have been read, but there is a book plate on the inside front cover with the date 2002.
There is no wear to the dust jacket, although the remains of the price tag are still on the top right corner. On the inside on the dust jacket, some of the black from the book has transferred to the paper and the corners of the dust jacket have yellowed a little.
The book itself is pristine.

Fathers and Sons, aka Fathers and Children, is an 1862 novel by Ivan Turgenev (1818 – 1883). It is one of the most acclaimed Russian novels of the 19th century.
The fathers and children of the novel refers to the growing divide between the two generations of Russians, and the character Yevgeny Bazarov, a nihilist who rejects the old order.
This copy was published by Walter J Black for the Classics Club in 1942 and reprinted in 1970.It is beige tweed boards with red and brilliant gold on the cover and spine; the top pages are dyed red.
345 pages.
Unread and pristine. There is one flaw--a few bits of red have started to come off the spine, as you can see in the photo.

This is a first edition of the First Circle, a novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), published by Harper & Row in 1968, before he was expelled from the Soviet Union. This is also a limited edition, as Solzhenitsyn rewrote much of it before he died; the new version was published in 2009.
The book is highly autobiographical; it depicts the lives of the occupants of a research bureau made of gulag inmates located in the Moscow suburbs. Many of the prisoners are technicians or academics who have been arrested under Article 58 of the Penal Code, as part of Stalin's purges.This group was well-treated, but if they fell out of favour, they'd be shipped to Siberia. The title refers to Dante's First Circle of Hell, where the philosophers live in a walled garden, enjoying a small space of freedom in the heart of Hell.
The cover of this book is a bright pink, with some scuffing. The spine of the jacket is heavily faded.
The rest of the book is absolutely pristine. It has not been read; when I opened it,… Read More

This novel was first published in Paris, in Russian, in 1962, under the title PODVIG (The Feat). When it was first translated, it was titled The Exploit.
In 1971, that was changed to Glory when McGraw-Hill published the first North American edition. This copy is one of those 1971 first editions.
It is about a Russian emigre's escape from Russia, his education in England, and his disastrous return to his homeland (the feat).
This copy has not been read. It is beautifully-designed.
Aside from some discoloration to the dust jacket, this book is in pristine condition.
Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

This is the March 1992 issue of Harper's Magazine.

See Table of Contents Scans
Revisiting Havana
Russia: Snow, Shortages, Dread and Metaphor
Arctic Images and Encounters
John Kenneth Galbraith on The Politics & the Culture of Contentment
82 Pages
The original mailing label is on the cover. There is a little ink transfer on the cover. The Double Acrostic was completed. The paper has yellowed.
But this magazine was not read; all of the subscription covers are still in it.
Excellent condition

This is a first, and likely the only, edition of Three Short Novels by Ivan Turgenev, published in 1957 by The Foreign Languages Publishing House, a state-run publisher in the Soviet Union that published Russian literature, novels, propaganda, and books about the USSR in foreign languages. It was dissolved in 1964.
Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, translator and popularizer of Russian literature in the West. His novel Fathers & Sons is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century fiction.
The three novels in this book are:
Asya (1858), a tragic story of two Russians abroad who are in love but conceal it from each other.
First Love (1860) was one of his most popular pieces of fiction. It is the love story of a 21 year-old woman and a 16 year-old boy.
Spring Torrents, aka Torrents of Spring (1872), is autobiographical and about a young Russian landowner who falls in love while on a visit to Frankfurt. It is regarded as one of Turgenev's… Read More

This is an unread copy of Rise of Russia, part of the Great Ages of Man series which Time-Life Books began publishing in the 60s. This book was written in 1967 by former CIA officer Robert Wallace; Time-Life's editors updated it and it was republished in 1977.

This book was well received. It covers the period of Russia becoming Russia (800+ AD) to the end of Peter the Great (1725). Reviews say it's a very good survey of the people who became Russia, that it is free from bias and that is extremely interesting and useful.

184 pages, including loads of photos.
There is a bookplate on the inside front cover which is already coming off on its own.

Pristine condition.

Note: Also listed here, I have three other books from this series: Ancient China, Ancient Egypt and Imperial Rome.

Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

LEO TOLSTOY SHORT STORIES
Edited by Ernest J Simmons, Modern Library 1964
This is 14 stories (plus a map)—it is a collection of the stories that Tolstoy completed before he started writing War & Peace. (see photo of contents)
Dark Blue Boards with a impressed design on the cover and bright gold lettering on the spine.
As you can see, there is a bump to the front cover and a very small ink mark to the front endpaper. The spine is starting to loosen a little.
Otherwise, perfect condition.

This is a first edition of The True Blue: The Life and Adventures of Colonel Fred Burnaby 1842-85, written by the British soldier and fellow adventurer Michael Alexander (1920-2004). This is one of the original copies, from the UK print run; most copies on the market now are from the 1958 American printing.
This is a rollicking biography of the larger-than-life character of Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, a Victorian star--his portrait by Tissot hangs in the National Gallery. He was reputedly the strongest man in the British Army, and definitely one of the most adventurous. Alexander follows Burnaby's holiday adventure to Khiva, via Russia, at a time when many expected war between Britain and Russia over the latter's advance into Central Asia. This was followed by a solo balloon crossing of the English Channel, the mastering of many languages, a political career as a Tory candidate, and frequent military actions, often in an unofficial capacity while on leave.This copy is in mint condition. The dust… Read More

Vanity Fair, April 2012
Cover: Julia Roberts
See Table of Contents Scans
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Charlotte CasiraghiWashington PostSunnylandsAngela Lansbury
232 Pages
The magazine hasn't been read, but there's some minor creasing, from improper storage.