The Russian Century is the most comprehensive and accessible collection of readings devoted to Russian culture and civilization. The fascinating first-person accounts paint a vivid picture of the Russian people through the turbulent years of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This book allows readers to see Russia through the private lives of people who come from diverse backgrounds, various educational and socio-economic experiences, and a broad geographic spectrum. Diary entries, personal sketches, memoirs, and letters tell these stories in an intimate and authentic voice of immediate experience rather than the distant, general flow of history. Translated into English for the first time, personal matters as well as the larger social and political context are revealed in a manner that provides significant insight into a powerful, distinctive, and influential culture.

All too often the Russian experience has been presented as either horrific or heroic. This volume goes beyond that approach and deals with areas which have received little or no attention to existing studies of Russian history and culture—love, sexuality, courtship, marriage, family life, work, education, and religion

The editors undertook the ambitious task of presenting over a hundred years of Russia's history. . . . The chronological scope of The Russian Century is quite impressive and takes its readers across major milestones of Russian history. . . . The wide range of voices makes this volume an indispensable tool for teaching undergraduate courses in Russian culture. (The Russian Review, Winter 2009 )

Wonderful and handy collection of writings that renders to the reader a multiplicity of private Russian worlds. . . . The book makes a rich, contextual supplement to any course on Russian civilization or twentieth-century Russian literature in translation. . . . Excellent collection. (Slavic and East European Journal, Fall 2009 )

This is an enlightening, well-structured collection....striking. (The Keene Sentinel, Books Section, February 2009 )About the AuthorGeorge Pahomov is Professor of literature and language and culture and civilization at Bryn Mawr College. He holds a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from New York University.Nickolas Lupinin is Senior Lecturer of History at Franklin Pierce College and Center Associate at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University. He holds a Ph.D. in History from New York University.