A comprehensive and accessible guide to Russian society and culture, which should appeal to students of Russian, travellers and anyone who wants to know more about the country, its history and its inhabitants.

This communicative "natural approach" to introductory Russian emphasizes reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Everyday topics are presented to allow readers to begin communicating immediately. Grammar is presented as a necessary tool for communication and is introduced throughout. The book aims at comparing and contrasting cultures, rather than presenting the target culture only.

Conquer the first stage of the Russian language with a communicative approach that goes beyond memorizing vocabulary! Troika will take students through all aspects of beginning Russian study, including the language, life, and culture of today’s Russian people. Develop students’ speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills with: 18 lessons that address a wide variety of topics ranging from Nationalities and Languages, to Daily Schedules. A step-by-step approach to learning, with every lesson divided into sub-topics featuring their own exercises to allow for testing of the material in segments. A variety of diverse student activities such as oral discussions, pre- and post-reading activities and writing exercises to foster group work as well as independent study. A full end-of-chapter grammar discussion, with exercises to foster the development of accurate communication skills. Authentic readings that are interwoven with the chapter topics, rather than in separate sections, to capture students’ attention. Cultural sections on famous people, as well as facts in geography, history and tradition, to enhance student appreciation of Russian life as well as language. This text is accompanied by ancillary materials that enrich Russian study for both student and instructor! For the Student: • Student Textbook (30945-1) • Workbook/Lab Manual/Pronunciation (30944-3) • Audio Cassettes (13805-3)—ask your bookstore to order! For the Instructor: • Annotated Instructor’s Edition (12926-7) • Test Bank (13803-7) • Audio Cassettes (13805-3) • Tapescript (13877-0).

An expansive region, Russia and the Eurasian Republics take up one-sixth of the land surface on Earth. Spread across two continents and eleven time zones, it is no wonder this region's cultural history is similarly wide and diverse. This book offers readers a unique glimpse into Russian and Eurasian cultures, punctuated by vibrant photographs and engaging fact boxes. The accessible text will help readers understand how this region's culture has been shaped and how it has impacted other countries, both in the surrounding area and across the globe.

Om livet på de russiske godser indtil revolutionen

The lives of animals in Russia are intrinsically linked to cultural, political and psychological transformations of the imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet eras. Other Animals examines the interaction of animals and humans in Russian literature, art, and life from the eighteenth century until the present. The chapters explore the unique nature of the Russian experience in a range of human-animal relationships through tales of cruelty, interspecies communion and compassion, and efforts to either overcome or establish the human-animal divide. Four themes run through the volume: the prevalence of animals in utopian visions; the ways in which Russians have incorporated and sometimes challenged Western sensibilities and practices, such as the humane treatment of animals and the inclusion of animals in urban domestic life; the quest to identify and at times exploit the physiological basis of human and animal behavior and the ideological implications of these practices; and the breakdown of traditional human-animal hierarchies and categories during times of revolutionary upheaval, social transformation, or disintegration.From failed Soviet attempts to transplant the seminomadic Sami and their reindeer herds onto collective farms, to performance artist Oleg Kulik's scandalous portrayal of Pavlov's dogs as a parody of the Soviet "new man," to novelist Tatyana Tolstaya's post-cataclysmic future world of hybrid animal species and their disaffection from the past, Other Animals presents a completely new perspective on Russian and Soviet history. It also offers a fascinating look into the Russian psyche as seen through human interactions with animals.