A philosopher obstinately searching for truth in the 1700s, badgered by the church for speaking out on human rights and the hypocrisy of the ruling elite, Skovoroda was forced to live an unsettled life.

Hryhoriy Skovoroda (1722–1794), dubbed a “wandering” philosopher, was one of the most colourful figures in 18th century Ukraine. He spent most of his life travelling about the country and spoke out in defence of justice and freedom for the common folk, often to his own detriment. His son...

The twenty-two stories in this collection, set mostly in Eastern Europe during World War Two, depict a world fraught with conflict and chaos. Theodore Odrach is witness to the horrors that surround him, and as both an investigative journalist and a skilful storyteller, using humor and irony, he guides us through his remarkable narratives. His writing style is clean and spare, yet at the same time compelling and complex. There is no short supply of triumph and catastrophe, courage and cowardic...

This edition is the first ever complete English translation of Kobzar, a collection of poems by the great 19th century Ukrainian poet, Taras ShevchenkoAs a foundational text, The Kobzar has played an important role in galvanizing the Ukrainian identity and in the development of Ukraine's written language and Ukrainian literature. The first editions had been censored by the Russian czar, but the book still made an enduring impact on Ukrainian culture. There is no reliable count of how many edi...

Andrejevs actieve periode als schrijver besloeg zo'n twintig jaar in een tumultueuze periode van de geschiedenis van Rusland. Hij ondersteunde de eerste Russische Revolutie daadwerkelijk en kwam voor het verbergen van medeplichtigen en het organiseren van geheime bijeenkomsten in de gevangenis terecht. Toen in 1907 de reactie op de revolutie kwam, nam de schrijver afstand van alle revolutionaire opvattingen, omdat volgens hem de opstand van de massa slechts lijden en slachtoffers zou brengen....

Lee Mandel's historical novel Moryak revolves around the story of Lieutenant Stephen Morrison, a naval officer sent by President Theodore Roosevelt on a top-secret mission in 1905. Morrison's assignment is to work with British agent Sidney Reilly to kidnap Tsar Nicholas II and remove him from Russia before he can sabotage the upcoming Portsmouth Peace conference.Main description: Lee Mandel's historical novel Moryak revolves around the story of Lieutenant Stephen Morrison, a naval officer sen...

Boryslav in Flames by Ivan Franko is a pioneering novel that depicts the rise of the labour movement in Western Ukraine. The story unfolds against the backdrop of the industrial revolution in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the 1860s. As industry burgeons in Boryslav, a nascent working class emerges, inspired by socialist ideals – a unique phenomenon in mostly agrarian Galicia.

Central to the narrative is Benedio, a lowly mason’s assistant who organizes the striking workers. This is of...

Edited, translated, and introduced by Anatoly Kudryavitsky, this bilingual anthology presents Russian short poems of the last half-century. It showcases thirty poets from Russia, and displays a variety of works by authors who all come from different backgrounds. Some of them are well-known not only locally but also internationally due to festival appearances and translations into European languages; among them are Gennady Aigi, Gennady Alexeyev, Vladimir Aristov, Sergey Biryukov, Konstantin K...

I’ve been happy since the morning. Delighted, even. Everything seems so splendidly transient to me. That dust, from which thou art and unto which thou shalt return — it tempts me. And that’s why I wander about these roads, these woods, among the nearby houses, from which waft the aromas of fried pork chops, chicken soup, fish, diapers, steamed potatoes for the pigs; I lose my eye-sight, and regain it again. I don’t know what life is, Ola, but I’m holding on to it. Thus speaks the na...

Mebet concerns a man of the taiga, a hunter, in a moving narrative that blends ethnographic detail, indigenous mythology, and the snowy landscapes of the Arctic.