Since then, five volumes of Edmund Wilson's diaries have been published, as well as a volume of Nabokov's correspondence with other people and Brian Boyd's definitive two-volume biography of Nabokov. The additional letters and a considerable body of new annotations clarify the correspondence, tracing in greater detail the two decades of close friendship between the writers.

    Rick Steves, bestselling author of travel guides to Europe, offers well-tested phrases and key words to cover every situation a traveler is likely to encounter. This handy guide provides key phrases for use in everyday circumstances, complete with phonetic spelling, an English-Italian and Italian-English dictionary, the latest information on European currency and rail transportation, and even a tear-out cheat sheet for continued language practice as you wait in line at the Sistine Chapel. Informative, concise, and practical, Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary is an essential item for any traveler's zainetto.

     The story of the Romanovs begins in Moscow in 1613, and ends in Ekaterinburg in 1918, at the beginning of a revolution, where Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their five children were slaughtered by a Soviet death squad. In this book, you will learn about the lives and reigns of each Romanov emperor and empress. Read about Peter the Great, who kept company with peasants and pie sellers but had his own son tortured to death; Catherine the Great, who finally convinced Europe that there was more to be found in the far north than just snow and barbarians; Alexander I, the gallant emperor who famously defeated Napoleon in 1812; Alexander II, who freed the serfs and survived five assassination attempts before perishing in the sixth; and Nicholas II, who ended the Romanov dynasty in 1917 when he abdicated the throne on behalf of himself and his son, the hemophiliac Alexei, who would never be emperor but is now considered a saint. The Romanov Dynasty Michael I (1613-1645) Alexei I (1645-1676) Fyodor III (1676-1682) Sofia Alekseyevna, regent for co-tsars Ivan V and Peter I (1682-1689) Ivan V (1682-1696) Peter the Great (1682-1725) Catherine I (1725-1727) Peter II (1727-1730) Anna I (1730-1740) Anna, Duchess of Courland, regent for Ivan VI (October 1740-December 1741) Elizaveta I (1741-1761) Peter III (January 1762-July 1762) Catherine the Great (1762-1796) Paul I (1796-1801) Alexander I (1801-1825) Nicholas I (1825-1855) Alexander II (1855-1881) Alexander III (1881-1894) Nicholas II (1894-1917)

    Regular, irregular, and defective verbs are each given a full page, with principle parts and complete conjugations.

    Learning the skills and techniques of artful reading can improve your life in many ways, whether you're a fiction reader, an aspiring writer, a book club member, or a student.And the best part: These skills are not difficult or unwieldy; rather, they are well within your reach. This entertaining, 24-lecture course gives you a veritable toolbox of knowledge and methods to approach even the most daunting reading experience with increased confidence.You'll learn the definitions and characteristics of terms such as authorship, master plot, and genre. While some of these nuts-and-bolts concepts may be familiar to you, Professor Spurgin examines them from multiple angles, revealing hidden meanings that can escape even experienced readers.Practical tips and techniques will maximize your effectiveness as an artful reader. You'll see why holding an initial reading session will acquaint you with the author's writing style and the characters, making the book easy to return to even if you take a few days off.You'll also discover the benefits of "pre-reading" - exploring a book's organization and structure - and how to constantly ask questions to become more deeply involved with the characters and their stories.Throughout the course, a host of literary "case studies" will refine and elaborate on the concepts of artful reading. Literary examples show how you can finally approach works that, in the past, might have seemed intimidating - making your future reading experiences both more engaging and more enlightening.

    Hard-Hitting Insults for Every OccasionIncluding      •  Insulting Someone’s Intelligence      •  Insulting Someone’s Sexual Prowess      •  Insults for the Office      •  Insults on Game Day     •  Insults throughout History     •  Insults from around the WorldPlus insulting gestures, backhanded compliments, comebacks, all the things you should never say about someone's mama, and much more!

    PLEASE TO THE TABLE encompasses the exhilarating pleasures of Soviet cooking—of robust Ukranian borschts and classic Russian cuisine, of healthy Georgian grains and yogurts and the delicately perfumed pilafs of Azerbaijan. Its 400 recipes are a revelation.From the Baltic Republics: Cold Veal Meat Loaf with Horseradish Sauce. Pork Chops with Apples Braised in Beer. Carrot Baba. Estonian Rye Cookies. Black Bread, Apple, and Cherry Pudding.From Russia: Sour Cherry Soup. Shchi. Chicken Cutlets Pozharsky. Steamed Salmon with Sorrel and Spinach Sauce. Fried Potatoes with Wild Mushrooms. Blini. Russian Cranberry Mousse.From the Caucasus: Armenian Lentil and Apricot Soup. Grilled Chicken with Garlic and Walnut Sauce. Grilled Trout with Tarragon. Asparagus with Egg, Garlic, and Lemon Sauce. Saffron Pudding.From Central Asia: Asian Radish Salad. Uzbek Lamb Kebabs. Spicy Carrots with Cumin Seeds. Chicken Pilaf with Nuts and Candied Orange Peel. Poached Quinces.From the Ukraine: Borscht with Apples and Beans. Potato, Feta, and Scallion Salad. Chicken Kiev. Roast Pork Loin with Caraway Seeds. Vareniki. Almond Raspberry Torte.Anya von Bremzen, a native of Moscow who emigrated to the West in the mid-1070s, is a food writer and food consultant. John Welchman is a travel and food writer who, like Ms. Von Bremzen, specializes in writing about the former Soviet Union. Together they spent three years working on PLEASE TO THE TABLE, traveling extensively through the former USSR, visiting professional chefs, touring markets, and sampling and gathering dishes.

    Available for the first time, Sarah Susanka's best-selling books in one handsome slipcase set.-- Great gift package-- Offers all of Sarah Susanka's trendsetting architectural ideas in one set

    Reviews of new razors and other shaving products are included, and the appendix now includes well over 100 on-line vendors as well as forums and reference sites. The book provides excellent guidance for beginners putting together their first shaving kit and discusses tradeoff considerations in the initial purchases. Traditional shaving is enjoyable and thrifty: double-edged blades are as low as 7¢ each---a year's worth of shaves for $3.50---compared to the same amount spent for one single disposable multiblade cartridge. The recommended beginner razor, one of the Edwin Jagger DE8x series, will last a lifetime and uses a recently designed head that easily provides a comfortable shave using techniques described in the book. The multiblade cartridge's tug-and-cut action often results in skin irritation, razor bumps, in-grown hairs, and razor burn---thus all the "protective" shaving preparations and "soothing and healing" aftershaves now offered. Most men with these skin problems decide that they have "sensitive skin," never realizing that the problem is their daily use of a multiblade cartridge whose its tug-and-cut action, made even worse by the shaver pressing hard to try to extend the life of the (expensive) cartridge. The book also includes a chapter on shaving and skin problems, including information on how DE shaving can help those who have acne as well as how to cure and prevent razor bumps and in-grown whiskers. The book is a complete instruction manual and guide in itself, but it also includes links to a host of resources on the Web to complement the book. Included with the book is a comprehensive list of on-line shaving vendors and other sources of equipment and supplies for everything you need to get started. It's a perfect gift for Father's Day, Valentine's Day, birthdays, graduations, and bar mitzvahs---and a particularly apt gift for men who shave daily but when asked whether they actually enjoy shaving answer, "No. I hate it." Give them this book so that they can look forward eagerly to their next shave---not an exaggeration. Men who have just started DE shaving frequently write that they wish they could shave more than once a day and look for eagerly to the next shave.

    

    To the people who lived in that system the collapse seemed both completely unexpected and completely unsurprising. At the moment of collapse it suddenly became obvious that Soviet life had always seemed simultaneously eternal and stagnating, vigorous and ailing, bleak and full of promise. Although these characteristics may appear mutually exclusive, in fact they were mutually constitutive. This book explores the paradoxes of Soviet life during the period of “late socialism” (1960s-1980s) through the eyes of the last Soviet generation.Focusing on the major transformation of the 1950s at the level of discourse, ideology, language, and ritual, Alexei Yurchak traces the emergence of multiple unanticipated meanings, communities, relations, ideals, and pursuits that this transformation subsequently enabled. His historical, anthropological, and linguistic analysis draws on rich ethnographic material from Late Socialism and the post-Soviet period.The model of Soviet socialism that emerges provides an alternative to binary accounts that describe that system as a dichotomy of official culture and unofficial culture, the state and the people, public self and private self, truth and lie — and ignore the crucial fact that, for many Soviet citizens, the fundamental values, ideals, and realities of socialism were genuinely important, although they routinely transgressed and reinterpreted the norms and rules of the socialist state.

    An invaluable addition to the libraries of instructors, students, and anyone interested in history, government, and anarchist thought.

     With détente, however, the U.S. Government arranges an exchange to save Grant. But the Russians will only release him if the United States finds and delivers the priceless imperial treasure that vanished during the Russian Revolution – the twelve Imperial Easter Eggs crafted by Faberge for the family of Czar Nicholas, each lavishly decorated with enamels and jewels, each worth a fortune. Although their recovery seems unlikely, the CIA assigns agency veteran Henryk Kessel to find them. He and his assistant, the beautiful Leslie Monroe, try to piece together the vanished past, combing the archives and museums of the world for a clue. In a hunt that takes them from the elegant drawing rooms of Georgetown to the busy bars of Stockholm, they pursue their mission. But it soon becomes evident that others, including the KGB, are on the same trail. As suspicion grows that not all the Romanovs are dead, Leslie quickly becomes target as well as pursuer, while Ward’s life hangs in the balance. The Romanov Ransom is haunting in its intensity. Complete with danger and romance, it brings novelist Thompson into the front ranks of espionage literature. Praise for Anne Armstrong Thompson ‘Anne Armstrong Thompson goes from strength to strength. The ingredients of her new book — espionage, a treasure hunt, the still unsolved mystery of the Romanovs, and a pair of fire-and-ice lovers — make marvelous reading.’ - Dorothy Eden ‘…silk-stocking suspense story’ – Kirkus Reviews Anne Armstrong Thompson was born in Lexington, Kentucky and received a B.S. degree in Economics from the University of Kentucky and an M.A. degree in Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She has worked in Washington and lived in Georgetown. Upon her marriage to architect Milton Thompson, Jr., she returned to Kentucky, where she served as Medicaid Director in the Department of Health. Mrs. Thompson has travelled extensively and now lives, with her husband and two sons, in Kentucky.

    The truth is, though, Germans are different from us-in more ways than we may know. Greg Nees, in this new InterAct, Germany: Unraveling an Enigma, does an outstanding job of explaining those cultural differences that we most need to know in order to have effective and fulfilling interactions with the Germans. Nees explores major German cultural themes: the need for order and obedience to rules and regulations, the insistence on clarity of thought, compartmentalization, the penchant for rational thinking and the love of abstract debate, the sharp distinction between insiders and outsiders, a strong sense of duty, and German communication patterns. As a business consultant who has lived and worked many years with Germans, Greg Nees gives special attention to the German social market economy and to cultural differences in the workplace. Perhaps most valuable, in his last chapter he looks to the future as Germany seeks to create a new identity in the twenty-first century, dealing with such issues as multiculturalism, Americanization, changing lifestyles, the European Union, and globalization.

    His political role as the power behind the throne is as much obscured today, as it was then, by the fascination with his morality and private life. Andrew Cook’s re-investigation of Rasputin’s death will reveal for the first time the real masterminds behind the murder of the "mad monk."