‘Ivan the Terrible is waiting for the End of the World. In the pride of autocracy, he imagines himself as the savior of the people, the Christ of the Second Coming, and establishes the oprichnina - the order for the defense of the faith. If the people believe in the tsar as in God, the tsar will become a miracle worker. With a wave of his hand, he will plunge all enemies into dust and cover...

Marina Tsvetaeva belonged to no poetic school and acknowledged no literary influences—only human ones. She stood alone, ‘for all’ and ‘against all.’ A staggering temperament combined with extraordinary rhythmic variety defines Tsvetaeva’s lyric poetry. Disregarding the boundaries of convention, she infused her poetry with an elemental force. And, despite misunderstanding, loneliness, and a...

This edition includes two of Shakespeare’s great tragedies—*Hamlet* and *Othello*—as well as *Romeo and Juliet*, the immortal tale of young, pure love. For centuries, people have sought the secret behind Shakespeare’s greatness and wondered why he eclipsed other brilliant figures of the Golden Age of English drama, forever etching his name into the history of world literature and theater.

This work by the 29-year-old author, thanks to the brilliant Alexandrian verse combined with a piercing love affair, was destined to become one of the most played plays in the world theater. The translation published in this edition by E. Baevskaya fully reflects all the dramatic features of the original.

This edition presents Leo Tolstoy’s so-called ‘Caucasian works’: the short stories ‘The Raid,’ ‘The Wood-Felling,’ and ‘The Prisoner of the Caucasus,’ as well as the novellas *The Cossacks* and *Hadji Murat*. These works reflect the impressions the writer gathered during his three-year service in the Caucasus. In 1851, he traveled there to join his older brother Nikolai—an officer in the active...

*Resurrection* is Tolstoy’s final novel, reflecting the spiritual and creative quests of his later years. Begun in 1889, the novel was not completed and published until a decade later, in 1899. In Russia, the publication of many scenes and even entire chapters was banned. *Resurrection* was among the works by Tolstoy that led to his excommunication from the Church.

This edition presents two of the author’s finest novels: *Treasure Island* and *The Black Arrow*. Thrilling adventures, brilliantly crafted plots, and unforgettable characters define these works, which are beloved by children and adults alike across the globe.

Comprising four dramatic scenes—*The Covetous Knight*, *Mozart and Salieri*, *The Stone Guest*, and *A Feast in Time of Plague*—the *Little Tragedies* focus on gripping tales of destructive passions. Greed and lust, envy and a craving for immortality take possession of Pushkin’s characters. They do not merely experience passion; they affirm it as the supreme value of existence, serving and...

This volume contains the core collection of lyrical works by the major Russian poet and Nobel Prize laureate Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (1890–1960): nine poetry collections—including the poems from the novel *Doctor Zhivago*—as well as the autobiographical essay *People and Situations*. As Dmitry Likhachev observed, the spiritualizing power of Pasternak’s verse compels the reader to both think...

Northanger Abbey is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic novels.

*The Prince* is the most significant and controversial work by the Renaissance Florentine statesman Niccolò Machiavelli. For many years, the book was associated with the politics of poison and the dagger. Following its publication, the term ‘Machiavellianism’ emerged to denote political cynicism, a lack of moral restraint, and duplicity. Today, however, many of the author's ideas are viewed...

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage is a long narrative poem by Lord Byron that follows a young, disillusioned man traveling through Europe