Separated from her three young sons, stripped of possessions and fearing for her life, Countess Edith Sollohub was trapped in revolutionary Russia. This is her account of her escape, assuming new identities as a Polish refugee, a travelling musician and a Red Army nurse; enduring hunger, imprisonment and loneliness to be reunited with her family.

Countess Sofia Panina lived a remarkable life. Born into an aristocratic family in imperial Russia, she found her true calling in improving the lives of urban workers. Her passion for social service and reputation as the "Red Countess" led her to political prominence after the fall of the Romanovs. She became the first woman to hold a cabinet position and the first political prisoner tried by the Bolsheviks. The upheavals of the 1917 Revolution forced her to flee her beloved country, but instead of living a quiet life in exile she devoted the rest of her long life to humanitarian efforts on behalf of fellow refugees. Based on Adele Lindenmeyr's detailed research in dozens of archival collections, Citizen Countess establishes Sofia Panina as an astute eyewitness to and passionate participant in the historical events that shaped her life. Her experiences shed light on the evolution of the European nobility, women's emancipation and political influence of the time, and the fate of Russian liberalism.

After the Russian Revolution turns her world upside down, Anna, a young Russian countess, has no choice but to flee to England. Penniless, Anna hides her aristocratic background and takes a job as a servant in the household of the esteemed Westerholme family. Anna is overwhelmed by her new duties, and her instant attraction to Rupert, the handsome Earl of Westerholme. To make matters worse, Rupert appears to be falling for her, too. Anna finds it increasingly difficult to keep her secrets from unraveling; and then there's the small matter of Rupert's fiancée.

At the turn of the twentieth century, many Russians clung to the traditional belief that "poverty is not a vice" and that personal acts of generosity toward the poor, including beggars, earn spiritual salvation. Here Adele Lindenmeyr explores how this thinking--and opposition to it--shaped the development of private charity and public welfare in Russia from the eighteenth century to World War I. In recovering a long-forgotten aspect of Russian history, Lindenmeyr offers new insights into major issues debated by historians today: the development of a viable civil society in an autocratic state, the efficacy of central and local government, and Russians' complex reaction to Western ideas. Her book also provides fascinating background to the new flourishing of private charity in post-communist Russia. The first challenges to the ethos of personal charity came from Peter the Great. Influenced by the Western notion that poverty was a vice, he attempted a systematic approach to its eradication. Lindenmeyr traces the course of poor relief from the establishment of the first state welfare institutions to the post-emancipation devolution of responsibility for the needy to local authorities. At the same time, however, almsgiving still thrived, especially among the peasant estate, where personal acts of charity were preferred to a poor tax. Finally, the author shows how hundreds of privately founded charitable societies and institutions also emerged, reflecting educated society's increasing awareness of poverty as a social problem and contributing significantly to the public sphere.

'A fairy tale for grown-ups. It's unapologetically romantic but it's also extremely funny, wry, dry and witty - and hugely uplifting.' – Marian Keyes, Daily Mail As WWI draws to a close, a love affair that stretches across countries, families and class begins, in master storyteller Eva Ibbotson's classic historical romance The Secret Countess, with an introduction from Amanda Craig. Anna Grazinsky, a young Russian countess, has lived in the glittering city of St Petersburg all her life in an ice-blue palace overlooking the River Neva. But when revolution tears Russia apart, her now-penniless family is forced to flee to England. Armed with an out-of-date book on housekeeping, Anna determines to help her family in any way possible, and she is soon hired as a housemaid at the Earl of Westerholme's crumbling but magnificent mansion. Then Rupert, the young Earl, returns home from the war and is fascinated by his new housemaid, and the more time they spend together the more they feel inexplicably drawn together. But they can never be together; Rupert is already engaged and Anna is only a servant . . . 'I have binged on Eva Ibbotson . . . her elegantly written, witty and well-observed fables' – Nigella Lawson, The Times Rediscover Eva Ibbotson, award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, in her sweeping historical romances, including The Morning Gift, A Song For Summer and The Secret Countess, originally published as A Countess Below Stairs.

A sweeping novel set in war-torn 1928 China, with a star-crossed love story at its center. In a city full of thieves and Communists, danger and death, spirited young Lydia Ivanova has lived a hard life. Always looking over her shoulder, the sixteen-year-old must steal to feed herself and her mother, Valentina, who numbered among the Russian elite until Bolsheviks murdered most of them, including her husband. As exiles, Lydia and Valentina have learned to survive in a foreign land. Often, Lydia steals away to meet with the handsome young freedom fighter Chang An Lo. But they face danger: Chiang Kai Shek's troops are headed toward Junchow to kill Reds like Chang, who has in his possession the jewels of a tsarina, meant as a gift for the despot's wife. The young pair's all-consuming love can only bring shame and peril upon them, from both sides. Those in power will do anything to quell it. But Lydia and Chang are powerless to end it.

Be the detective ! Find the clues, lift the flaps and read the secret facts to solve the Mystery of the Russian Ruby. Solve it once, solve it twice, solve it thrice.

This unique collection of the greatest novesl, short stories & plays in Russian literature has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards: Introduction: The Rise of the Russian Empire Novels & Novellas: Dead Souls Oblomov Fathers and Sons Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment The Idiot The Brothers Karamazov Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace Anna Karenina The Death of Ivan Ilych The Kreutzer Sonata Anton Chekhov: The Steppe: The Story of a Journey Ward No. 6 Mother (Maxim Gorky) Satan's Diary (Leonid Andreyev) Plays: The Inspector General; or, The Government Inspector (Nikolai Gogol) Anton Chekhov: On the High Road Swan Song, A Play in one Act Ivanoff The Anniversary; or, the Festivities The Three Sisters The Cherry Orchard… Leo Tolstoy: The Power of Darkness The First Distiller Fruits of Culture The Live Corpse The Cause of it All The Light Shines in Darkness Leonid Andreyev: Savva The Life of Man Short Stories: The Queen of Spades The Cloak The District Doctor The Christmas Tree and the Wedding God Sees the Truth, but Waits How A Muzhik Fed Two Officials The Shades, a Phantasy The Heavenly Christmas Tree The Peasant Marey The Crocodile Bobok The Dream of a Ridiculous Man Mumu The Viy Knock, Knock, Knock The Inn Lieutenant Yergunov's Story The Dog The Watch… Russian Folk Tales & Legends: The Fiend The Dead Mother The Dead Witch The Treasure The Cross-Surety The Awful Drunkard The Bad Wife The Golovikha The Three Copecks The Miser The Fool and the Birch-Tree The Mizgir The Smith and the Demon Ivan Popyalof The Norka Marya Morevna Koshchei the Deathless The Water Snake The Water King and Vasilissa the Wise The Baba Yaga Vasilissa the Fair The Witch The Witch and the Sun's Sister One-Eyed Likho Woe… Essays: On Russian Novelists Lectures on Russian Novelists

A collection of twelve Russian short stories including "The Queen of Spades," "The Overcoat," "White Nights," "The Signal," and "The Lady with the Toy Dog."