Russia Recommendations

 

Going to St. Petersburg, Moscow, or Voronezh? Or even just dreaming of Россия? Here are some recommendations from iLP alums to get pumped and informed about Mother Russia.

Books

 

Nicholas and Alexandra 

Robert Massie

 

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy

 Anton Chekhov (for the ambitious)

 

A Train to Potevka 

Mike Ramsdell

 

Everything is Illuminated  

Jonathan Safran Foer (Ukraine, actually, but still good!)

Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoyevsky 

The Guns of August

Barbara Tuchman

The Endless Steppe

Esther Hautzig  

Music

  Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Possibly Russia's most famous classical composers. Many ballets and operas performed there are written by one or the other. Both are buried in St. Petersburg.
 
Movies

 
Many thanks to Melissa, Lauren, Chloe, Katie, Tessa, Michelle, and Lisa for your suggestions! Any other recommendations?