Russophiles Unite

NAME

ABOUT

An image that will surely come back to haunt me, should I ever stand for public office...

Russia kinda grows on you. At least, that has been my experience. I lived in Moscow for about five years, working first as an English language teacher and then later as an editor for a news agency.

So, what's the point of this particular corner of the web? I'm still figuring that out, but for the time being the plan is to create a collection of introductions to or previews of various things relating to Russian history, language and culture that I've watched, listened to or read over the years. Most of what's mentioned here is online and available free of charge. For now, the vast majority of this is in English. That may change in future, or it might not. We'll have to see.

The blog also occasionally features some short pieces that were originally written for my former company's weekly news email on various useful Russian words and phrases. The photos on the gallery page were taken by me in Moscow and further afield.

Disclaimer: It's probably worth spending a second or two attending to the rapidly defrosting wooly mammoth carcass over there in the corner of the room. So here goes. It's not exactly a secret that relations between Russia and the West haven't been going through a particularly wonderful patch recently. Anything relating to Russian history or politics (or the history of anywhere, for that matter) is going to contain opinions and not everyone who reads/hears/watches is going to agree with all of them. Obviously, it makes sense to seek to avoid being needlessly incediary, but on the other hand, what might be deemed contentious is very much an eye-of-the beholder thing. Comments are actively encouraged, but let's try to keep things civil. *Chastises self for naiveté*.