The Kremlin is one of the very few buildings in the world which still keeps its original, late medieval function: as a palace, built to intimidate the ruler's subjects and to frighten foreign emissaries. 'Red Fortress' conveys this sense of the Kremlin as a stage set, nearly as potent under Vladimir Putin as it was under earlier, far more baleful inhabitants.

Russia is the largest country in the world, with the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. Over a thousand years this multifaceted nation of shifting borders has been known as Rus, Muscovy, the Russian Empire, and the Soviet Union. Thirty years ago it was reinvented as the Russian Federation. Russia is not an enigma, but its past is violent, tragic, sometimes glorious, and certainly complicated. Like the rest of us, the Russians constantly rewrite their...

When they took everything from her, they didn't count on her fighting to get it back. Born into the House of Romanov to the all-powerful Peter the Great and Catherine I, beautiful Tsarevna Elizabeth is the world's loveliest Princess and the envy of the Russian empire. Insulated by luxury and as a woman free from the burden of statecraft, Elizabeth is seemingly born to pursue her passions. However, a dark prophecy predicts her fate as inexorably twined...

Ivan and his mother and grandmother are happy together. Then Grandmother dies, and he comes along making Ivan share his mother. When Mother disappears, he insists he doesn't know what has happened, and Ivan finds himself alone, cold and abandoned on the streets of Moscow, with little chance to make it through the harsh winter. Help comes in an unexpected form: Ivan is adopted by a pack of dogs. The creatures quickly become more than just his street...

Russia is an exceptional country, the biggest in the world. It is both European and exotic, powerful and weak, brilliant and flawed. Why are we so afraid of it? Time and again, we judge Russia by unique standards. We have usually assumed that it possesses higher levels of cunning, malevolence and brutality. Yet the country has more often than not been a crucial ally, not least against Napoleon and in the two world wars. We admire its music and its...

This is the eighth edition of this comprehensive guide to Russia. It covers Siberia and the Russian Far East and includes fascinating historical and cultural notes.

Winter has come early to the tiny Siberian village of Roslazny, but for Olga Pushkin, aspiring writer and Railway Engineer (Second Class), it only makes leaving the harder. Olga is being forced overseas by her jealous superior, and now faces two years in exile from her beloved rail-side hut, her white-breasted hedgehog Dmitri, and Vassily Marushkin, sergeant-in-charge at the tiny Roslazny police station. Fate seems to intervene when Olga's train crashes...

'Snowdrops' is a chilling story of love and moral freefall - of the corruption, by a corrupt society, of a corruptible young man. It is taut, intense and has a momentum as irresistible to the reader as the moral danger that first enchants, then threatens to overwhelm, its narrator.

'Russia' includes information on both the landscape of the country and the everyday lives of the people. Also, it features translations of common words with pronunciation as well as facts and figures.

Closely modelled on his NATO experience of war gaming future conflicts, this is a chilling account of where we are heading if we fail to recognise the threat posed by the Russian president. Written by the recently retired Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe and endorsed by senior military figures, it shows how war with Russia could erupt with the bloodiest and most appalling consequences if the necessary steps are not taken urgently.