Stefan Zweig based his biography of Marie Antoinette, who became the Queen of France at the age of fifteen, on the correspondence between her and her mother, and her great love the Count Axel von Fersen. Zweig analyzes the chemistry of a woman’s soul from her intimate pleasures to her public suffering as a Queen under the weight of misfortune and history. Zweig describes Marie Antoinette in the...

Since his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Obama has captured attention as reporters, politicos, and ordinary citizens have wondered if he might be the nation's first black president. Chicago Tribune reporter Mendell argues that although Obama's rise to the national stage might seem unplanned, it is the outcome of a carefully calculated strategy by an ambitious man. Mendell...

Nadezhda Akinfova was enthusiastically loved by the Russian minister of foreign affairs, Prince A. M. Gorchakov. Moreover, Fedor Tiutchev devoted his verses to her; and then there's the story of her love for N. M. Leikhtenbersky, which was reflected in Tolstoy's novels 'War and Peace' and 'Anna Karenina.' Now, unpublished confidential archival material has allowed the author to reconstruct the...

Vasilii Chapaev was one of the most active participants in Russia's Civil War; in our time, he is known as the hero of many jokes. The real story of his life is interwoven with fabrications from the well-known movie about his life. Before the fall of the USSR, the name Chapaev was surrounded by an aura of heroism and whole-hearted devotion to the Revolution. This book is based on archival...

A serious research of the last year of Dostoevsky's life. It sheds light on the drama of his life, death and the mystery of his departure.

Vlas Doroshevish. The Fate of The Feuilletonist. A full biography.

The first biography of Gertrude Stein written in Russian.

A biography of the famous Russian writer and a politician, Eduard Limonov.

The relationship between Freddie Mercury and Jim Hutton evolved over several months in 1984 and 1985. Even when they first slept together, Hutton had no idea who Mercury was, and, when the star told him his name, it meant nothing to him. Hutton worked as a barber at the Savoy Hotel and retained his job and his lodgings in Sutton, Surrey, for two years after moving in with Mercury, and then...