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Charming folk story ingeniously adapted by translator Sian Valvis from a traditional tale told in the Pomor (northern Russia) dialect. Beautifully illustrated by Dovile Ciapaite. The Magic Ring is a traditional folktale that was rewritten by the writer Boris Shergin in the 1930s. Translator Sian Valvis has translated and adapted the text, written in Pomor, a northern Russian, dialect which survived despite attempts to suppress it during the Soviet period. Creating her own version mixing northern English dialect with ingenious neologisms and rhyme, Sian retains the strongly regional flavour of the original and its madcap, anarchic feel while making it accessible and entertaining for children and adult readers alike. A peasant boy, Vanya, comes across a magic ring which grants him wishes. To marry the tsar's daughter he must build a bridge connecting the palace with his village, and this he does with the help of the ring. The princess tricks him into sharing the secret of the ring, and uses it to transport herself to Paris and her lover. Through the initiative of Snowy the dog and Mashka the cat, the ring is retrieved and all ends well.

Sytin House was built in Moscow in 1803 by Brigadier Andrei Sytin to be his city residence. Built from wood but disguised to look like stone, a peculiarity of the Russian building tradition, it was a typical house for a member of the gentry class, built according to standardised designs and decorated with classical motifs. The otherwise modest house has a portico with four columns and a pediment, all from wood. The Sytin family moved in just a few years before the fire of Moscow in 1812 that devastated most of the city, but, amazingly, not this house, that is to this day an extraordinary survivor, one of only a handful of such houses left in Moscow. The house survived the early 20th century building boom, as well as the upheaval of the 1917 revolution when numerous wooden houses were dismantled for firewood. Divided into communal apartments during the Soviet period, it avoided demolition under Stalin, was listed in the 1960s, and finally restored in 1980. It was once again left empty in the 2010s however, and began to decline. Nestled between two of Moscow¿s main streets, it has been recently triumphantly restored, and is today a witness of over 200 years of the city¿s architectural history. This account provides a fascinating and original insight into the cultural, political and social landscape of Russia, as well as its architectural history.

A fresh and original take on a classic Russian tale, featuring an updated rhyming text and new illustrations

The second volume on architecture in the latest of Fontanka/Ginzburg Design re-publications of seminal works on Soviet architecture in English. Barkhin¿s Architecture of the Theatre is a fascinating survey of the theatre from a Soviet perspective

The latest in the series of Fontanka/Ginzburg Design re-publications of seminal works on Soviet architecture in English. Barkhin¿s Architecture of the Theatre is a fascinating survey of the theatre from a mid-20th century, Soviet perspective

A new Russian textbook for beginners. Proven effective over several years, now completely redesigned and updated, Russian Made Clear aims to become the dominant Russian course for beginners

Moisei Ginzburg (1892-1946) was an architect, theorist, teacher, and a leader of the Constructivist group in Soviet avant-garde architecture. His magnum opus, Style and Epoch (1924), was essentially a manifesto of Constructivism as the architectural style of the new Soviet era.

Elena Polenova, sister of the landscape artist Vasily Polenov, was a leading figure in the Russian craft revival, which began at the estate of Abramtsevo, just north of Moscow, in the 1890s. She took traditional folk patterns and developed them into fashionable designs for handmade wooden furniture which was produced by rural people and sold in Moscow boutiques. She was also a talented watercolourist, textile designer and illustrator of children¿s fairy-tales. She died in 1898 aged 48 of a brain tumour. Dr Louise Hardiman is an art historian and specialist in Russian art, design and culture, as well as the international Arts and Crafts movement.

Includes 10 classical sculptures from the Hermitage Museum (mostly Roman and one or two Greek), removed from their plinths and repositioned to share a raised floor with the viewer; and 17 abstracted body-forms by Antony Gormley.