travel books on russia

15% off with code MAY15

• North America
• South America
• Middle East
• Australia & Pacific

New Releases

Trending Destinations

Experience Guides

• Outdoor Travels & Adventures
• Epic Guides
• Food & Drink
• Gifts & Inspiration
• Language Guides
• Lonely Planet Kids

Country Guides

Pocket Guides

All Guides & eBooks

• Lonely Planet Insider

Your cart is empty

Get this book for free by becoming a Lonely Planet Insider:

• 3 eBook downloads every year
• Exclusive offers and discounts
• Free shipping on all orders

$2.99 USD/month (charged annually) Learn more

Inside Lonely Planet’s  Russia  Travel Guide:

• Colour  maps and images throughout
• Highlights   and itineraries  help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests
• Insider tips  to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots
• Essential info   at your fingertips  - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices
• Honest reviews for all budgets  - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss
• Cultural insights  give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, art, literature, music, architecture, performing arts, landscape, wildlife, environment, religion, Russia today

Coverage Includes:  Moscow, St Petersburg, the Golden Ring, Kaliningrad, the Urals, Volga, Sochi, Caucasus, Siberia, the Russian Far East, and more

eBook is available in ePub, MOBI and PDF.

ISBN: 9781786573629

Edition: 8th

Publication Date: March 2018

Writers: Simon Richmond, Mark Baker, Marc Bennetts, Stuart Butler, Trent Holden, Ali Lemer, Tatyana Leonov, Tom Masters, Kate Morgan, Leonid Ragozin, Regis St Louis, Mara Vorhees

720 pages, 160pp color, 98 maps | Dimensions: 128mm × 197mm

Next edition due: December 2025

Which guidebook is right for me?

Country, city & regional guides.

• Top experience collections
• Regional itineraries recommended by experts (from a couple of days to multi-week)
• 3D illustrations and guided tours of key sights
• Extensive coverage of history and culture
• Detailed maps throughout - includes walking maps and a pull-out planning map

EXPERIENCE guides

(country, city & regional).

• Led by local experts that reveal their favorite experiences and hidden gems
• Personal itinerary building tools
• Seasonal planning calendars
• QR codes unlock additional online content

POCKET guides

(city & regional).

• Special features cover most popular sights
• Content organized by neighborhhod
• Recommended 1, 2, 3 and 4-day itineraries
• Guided walking tours

©Chan Srithaweeporn/Getty Images

The world's largest country offers it all, from historic cities and idyllic countryside to artistic riches, epic train rides and vodka-fuelled nightlife.

Attractions

Must-see attractions.

Solovetsky Transfiguration Monastery

Northern European Russia

This imposing, stone-walled monastery is the heart and soul of the Solovetsky Islands. Founded in 1429, it has played various roles throughout its…

The Armoury dates to 1511, when it was founded under Vasily III to manufacture and store weapons, imperial arms and regalia for the royal court. Later it…

Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

Arbat & Khamovniki

This is Moscow’s premier foreign-art museum, split over three branches and showing off a broad selection of European works, including masterpieces from…

State Hermitage Museum

St Petersburg

The Hermitage fully lives up to its sterling reputation. You can be absorbed by its treasures for days and still come out wanting more. The enormous…

St Basil's Cathedral

At the southern end of Red Square stands the icon of Russia: St Basil’s Cathedral. This crazy confusion of colours, patterns and shapes is the culmination…

Grand Palace

Around St Petersburg

The Grand Palace is an imposing building, although with just 30-something rooms, it is not nearly as large as your typical tsarist palace. From the start…

Moscow Kremlin

The apex of Russian political power and once the centre of the Orthodox Church, the Kremlin is the kernel of not only Moscow, but of the whole country…

Lenin's Mausoleum

Although Vladimir Ilych requested that he be buried beside his mum in St Petersburg, he still lies in state at the foot of the Kremlin wall, receiving…

Latest stories from Russia

Filter by interest:

• All Interests
• Adventure Travel
• Art & Culture
• Beaches, Coasts & Islands
• Food & Drink

Nov 2, 2021 • 5 min read

Mount Elbrus is Europe's highest mountain. Don't start your climb until you've read this guide to ascending safely.

Sep 24, 2021 • 6 min read

Sep 9, 2020 • 2 min read

Feb 11, 2020 • 5 min read

Dec 15, 2019 • 7 min read

Nov 28, 2019 • 4 min read

Oct 28, 2019 • 5 min read

Sep 25, 2019 • 7 min read

Sep 23, 2019 • 7 min read

Sep 17, 2019 • 5 min read

in partnership with getyourguide

Book popular activities in Russia

Purchase our award-winning guidebooks.

Get to the heart of Russia with one of our in-depth, award-winning guidebooks, covering maps, itineraries, and expert guidance.

Russia and beyond

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

The best books to understand contemporary Russia

From memoir and novels to guerrilla journalism and economics, Viv Groskop shares her favourite books on Russia today

• ‘In Russia, the new evil is rooted in the old evil’: novelist Sergei Lebedev on Putin’s toxic regime

In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova (Fitzcarraldo Editions, translated by Sasha Dugdale)

Out in translation this week, Stepanova’s tour de force blends memoir, literary criticism, essay and fiction. Although this is a personal and intimate work using photographs, postcards and diaries, it succeeds in mining a universal theme in contemporary Russian cultural life: how does a family – or a country – process the events of the past 100 years? Author of 10 volumes of poetry, Stepanova is the founder and editor-in-chief of independent online crowd-sourced journal colta.ru which reaches a million readers a month.

Happiness Is Possible by Oleg Zaionchkovsky (And Other Stories, translated by Andrew Bromfield)

Published in Russia in 2010 (and in translation in 2012), this is a rare novel about post-perestroika Moscow. (Most contemporary Russian novelists set their work in the recent or distant past, not in the present day.) Described as “Russia’s answer to Murakami”, Zaionchkovsky analyses the fate of an introspective writer who can’t finish the book he’s writing because he is feeling “newly orphaned” by the collapse of his marriage and tortured by the cramped conditions in his high-rise apartment (“I am – pardon the comparison – like a sanitary towel absorbing other people’s intimacies”). AD Miller, author of the Booker-shortlisted Snowdrops , says Zaionchkovsky has “an identifiably Russian, dark sense of humour”.

Bride and Groom by Alisa Ganieva (Deep Vellum, translated by Carol Apollionio)

Now in her mid-30s, Ganieva is a Russian-Dagestani author famous for winning Russia’s Debut prize at the age of 25. The winning entry was her first novel Salaam, Dalgat! , written and submitted for the prize under a male pseudonym. Her identity was only revealed at the award ceremony. Bride and Groom , the tale of a young couple torn between the drive for freedom and the respect of their families, is sensitive, compelling and funny: there’s an uncle sent to the camps for boasting that his penis is more powerful than Stalin himself, and a grandmother who tells the bride-to-be to use Elastoplast to avoid nose wrinkles.

Other Russias: Stories and Drawings from the Age of Putin by Victoria Lomasko (Penguin, translated by Thomas Campbell)

A cross between “guerrilla journalism”, post-Soviet Charlie Hebdo and a one-woman Private Eye, this is a collection of drawings and observations by artist and activist Victoria Lomasko . The daughter of a Soviet propaganda artist, Lomasko aims to show “the unseen Russia” through the eyes of sex workers, juvenile prisoners, elderly Orthodox believers, the socially isolated and campaigners affected by Russia’s homophobic laws. She began the series of drawings in 2008 but many of the slogans she reports were echoed in the recent 2021 Navalny protests: “Retire, Putin.” “Mother of God, drive Putin away.”

The Return of the Russian Leviathan by Sergei Medvedev (Polity, translated by Stephen Dalziel)

A professor at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Medvedev runs a popular daily blog for an audience of 30,000, writing about “the triangle between history, politics and sociology”. Russian readers lapped up this book: it’s in its sixth reprint. Awarded the 2020 Pushkin prize (“to encourage public understanding and intelligent debate about the Russian-speaking world”), this book traces the origins of Russian nationalism and investigates the nostalgia for empire. The Pushkin prize is always a reliable source of both authoritative and offbeat reading suggestions: the 2021 shortlist will be announced later this spring.

• Fiction in translation

Most viewed

21 Russian Books You Must Read in Your Lifetime

It is hard to disagree with Solzhenitsyn that Russian literature is the country’s second government. Russian books, whether it’s about Tolstoy’s love-stricken aristocrats or Pushkin’s tragic addicts, are a trip through time and into the Russian soul.

This list consists of books that touch on classic Russian titles, contemporary and non-fiction books about Russia, books on Russian and Soviet history as well as some of the most famous Russian short stories.

Love, War, God, Justice, Pain, Family, Good & Evil… pretty much everything philosophical you can think of will be discussed. With a dose of Cold War espionage of course.

So, buckle up with your trusty Kindle or colourful bookmarks ’cause it’s going to be a very existential ride!

*This article may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For full information, please see the disclaimer  here .

Table of Contents

Classic Russian Literature

1. crime and punishment by fyodor dostoyevsky (1866).

• Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 430 Pages – 08/22/2001 (Publication Date) – Dover Publications (Publisher)

Find the audiobook on Amazon Audible / Chirp

For our debutant, you might have thought I would bow to the grandeur of War and Peace or the Pushkin sophistication of Eugene Onegin. Nope.

One of my favorite books about Russia, Crime and Punishment made me ache to the point of self-doubt at Raskolnikov’s feverish paranoia. I wanted to hug and console Sonya; a sanctified prostitute who works solely to support her family (and perhaps reflects how Russian religious collectivism is used to absolve one of their sins?).

This novel of human psychology follows the ex-law student Raskolnikov and his social entourage after he commits two egregious crimes. With Raskolnikov sweeping the streets of St Petersburg, in an effort to either escape his guilt or fall deeper into his delirium, you will meet Razumikhin, Raskolnikov’s friend and happier alter-ego.

You will learn about Dunya, Raskolnikov’s sister, chased by the profiteering Luzhin. The Marmeladovs will show you what real family drama looks like. Porfiry Petrovich will be your 19th-century Russian Poirot.

The underlying question of it all: will Raskolnikov meet his punishment?

Intrigued to discover St Peterburg through the eyes of Russian nihilism? Ready to understand why turmoil has been irreversibly linked to the Russian soul? Then, few Russian books can rival the complexity of Crime and Punishment.

2. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (1966)

• Great product!
• Mikhail Bulgakov (Author)

Pontius Pilatus, the devil, and a chess-master cat enter a bar in Moscow… where did they all meet? Well, at Bulgakov’s Master and Margharita, of course!

Woland (Satan) with his supernatural bandits dance the tango of destruction with the flawed humans that they encounter in Moscow. The result will sometimes make you choke with laughter and other times will make your skin crawl.

Beheadings; sending people off to a nuthouse in Yalta; mystical seances at the Variety theatre leaving people naked in the street; just a few of the events that describe part of the havoc that Woland unleashes. The eternal battle between evil and good, fairness and injustice, greed and heroism are interweaved in the lives of the Master, Margharita, traumatized poets, morally dubious theatre directors, and maids-turned-witches.

As the Russian cousin of Goethe’s Faust, “The Master and Margarita” will show you how fear paralyzed the minds of the Soviet people and how atheistic propaganda was injected through society’s veins. But, you will also take a philosophical deep dive into morality, leaving you entertained and intellectually bedazzled.

3. Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev (1862)

• Turgenev, Ivan (Author)
• 256 Pages – 06/15/2008 (Publication Date) – Oxford University Press (Publisher)

Let me just say that I came across this diamond by doing an essay on Hemingway’s own version of “Fathers and Sons”. It’s a short story undoubtedly inspired by Turgenev’s works, so do check that out if you are a Hemingway fan!

Now, to our Russian book… “Fathers and Sons” centers around the evolving relationships between the main characters, the young Bazarov and Anatoly, their families and social surroundings. In fact, Bazarov is a staunch nihilist, deeply influencing his friend Anatoly. Not to mention that he heavily troubles the traditionalist noblemen that encircle them.

Take note that the novel was published in 1862, a time where Russian serfs and democrat revolutionaries were defying the status quo in light of the sweeping social and political changes in the West.

Yes, the journey of the maverick Bazarov might be Turgenev’s literary commentary on the political situation of Russia at the time. But, the novel also touches on the timeless generational gap that often exists between parents and children, with miscommunication and shifting values driving a wedge between the old and the young for centuries.

4. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (1833)

• Pushkin, Alexander (Author)
• 304 Pages – 11/25/2008 (Publication Date) – Penguin Classics (Publisher)

Falling outside the realm of standard Russian books, Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin has sculpted many of the Russian literary archetypes.

Onegin, the St. Petersburg dandy who is raised in social conformity and superficiality. Lensky, the daydreamer whose time in the clouds might be his downfall. Tatyana, the intelligent and passionate heroine falling madly in love only to become humiliated by her object of admiration.

Pushkin’s beloved stanzas orbit around a variety of themes. The exploration of meaningful love, fate, and the relationship between art and life stands out by the end of the poem. The clash of reality and art and the eventual loneliness and fate that Onegin must face, condemn in a very Russian way the effect that arrogance and egoism have on the individual and society as a whole.

5. War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1867)

• Used Book in Good Condition
• Tolstoy, Leo (Author)

The Book of Russian books. I think I can skip lengthy introductions for this one.

As you may know, this work which has been considered unclassified in genre, follows the lives of five aristocratic families. It is the era of the Napoleonic wars and a period of a shift of foreign influence in Russian society. Several of the characters will either experience or feel the impact of the French invasion, some will even meet Napoleon.

However, it is the society that is formed, the values that are reflected, and the philosophical questions that are posed that have hailed this book as the panorama of Russian aristocratic life under Tzarist rule.

There is love, questions on morality in an immoral society, meanderings on the existence of God. There are bloody battles, scenes of humility, and heart-breaking, bedridden goodbyes. It is a masterpiece of unique Tolstoy-esque existentialism and realism that has made it the crown jewel of Russian books.

6. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol (1842)

• Nikolai Gogol (Author)

Gogol’s “Dead Souls” follows the main character, Chichikov, as he travels from estate to estate, seeking to buy from landowners their ‘dead souls’.

Well, as it happens, landowners pay taxes based on the ‘souls’, or the number of serfs they own. However, the serf ledger is not always up-to-date, so the owners often have to pay a tax for people that have turned to dust.

So, what business does the middle-class nomad Chichikov have buying ‘dead souls’? Is it moral to relieve peculiar landowners of their tax burden? Or, are Chichikov’s schemes of profit and the landowners’ avarice the pinnacle of immorality?

As always, it’s up to you, the reader to decide. But, before you do, imagine yourself in Chichikov’s shoes; dangling between the absurdity of fine society, the ridiculousness of the landowners, his list of dead people, each painting a worthy story of their own.

Macabre Russian humor, time-traveling back to the age of serfdom, get-rich-quick plans colliding with ethics. All the ingredients of classic Russian books will help you understand why Gogol’s “Dead Souls” seems so relevant even today.

7. Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1871)

• Dostoevsky, Fyodor (Author)
• 768 Pages – 08/01/1995 (Publication Date) – Vintage (Publisher)

If I could add to this list everything Dostoyevsky, I would. If you find yourself being existentially struck by some of the Russian classics, do not skip the novels “The Idiot”, “Notes from Underground”, “The Gambler”, “Brothers Karamazov” and “The Grand Inquisitor”.

For our article though, Dostoyevsky’s “Demons” shall take the spot.

A tide of alluring ideas swept Russian society amidst the 19th century, particularly the youth. Alongside romantic trifles and aristocratic whims, a revolution is boiling. Pyotr Verkhovensky is the nihilist ideologue stroking the fire, Nikolai Stavrogin the tormented sadist thriving in his own shame.

A psychological drama, the book explores the destruction that can be brought by ideologies, the “demons” able to fuel horrific acts.

Non-fiction books about Russia

8. the return of the russian leviathan by sergei medvedev (2019).

One of the best Russian books to offer you a sharp analysis of the current political reality in Russia. Professor Medvedev traces the renewed rise of Russian authoritarianism with the undying picture of “Great Russia” as a background. A picture to which the country’s Tsar-like leaders seem too fondly attached.

Familiar with the biblical sea monster Leviathan? Then you have already got the gist of this book.

The might of a country meddling in the Syrian war, annexing Crimea, and stirring further conflict in Ukraine is contrasted by its internal silent chaos. Apartheid roads between the rich and the poor, lethal highways, the recarving of history, scandals of a kleptocracy; only just a few of the elements that the professor will evoke with his Russian dark humor to express the loss of hope for a free post-Soviet era.

9. Internal Colonization: Russia’s Imperial Experience by Alexander Etkind (2011)

• Etkind, Alexander (Author)
• 300 Pages – 10/28/2011 (Publication Date) – Polity (Publisher)

Subconsciously, we have maybe associated the word “colonization” with Western European countries, and a particularly English elephant in the room.

In that case, prepare to immerse yourself in a world of Russian serfdom going back to the times of the beginnings of the fur trade, the rise and fall of Tsars, the blending of history, social commentary, and the lessons of landmark Russian literature.

Starting by referring to Gogol’s story of a traveling human nose, Alexander Etkind will explore the unique process of Russia’s colonization of its own people. You will witness the transformation of the relationship between the colonized and the colonizers, Russia’s collision with the unfamiliar Orient.

A dense and deeply informative book, the combination of historical rigorousness and analysis of the cultural fabric of Russia throughout time will definitely make this a worthy read.

10. Pravda Ha Ha: True Travels to the End of Europe by Rory MacLean (2020)

• Hardcover Book
• MacLean, Rory (Author)

Travel journal meets politics, meets Russia, meets (meta-) history.

Rory MacLean’s “Pravda Ha Ha” is an all-encompassing update to the author’s 1989 travels to the East of Europe. A time when the fall of communism gave rise to a new way of coping with past (Soviet) demons.

The book is a connecting dot between the optimism of a post-Soviet future and the despair of a deeply divisive present. Annexations of neighboring lands in the name of national sovereignty; the closing down of Orthodox monasteries turned labor camps; the establishment of anti-Europe, anti-immigration propaganda hubs; rural poverty vs urban debauched riches.

In the end, this is a book that will not limit its insight on the degression of Russian politics. It will accompany you through rich social commentary on the rebirth of nationalism in Europe. From the author meeting angry Hungarian shopkeepers to cyber hackers, Gorbachev, and British isolationism, this is a historical roller-coaster that you feel compelled to hop on to.

Contemporary Russian books

11. the light and the dark by mikhail shishkin (2014).

• Shishkin, Mikhail (Author)

Two people pour their souls and their thoughts into passionate love letters.

Sasha while talking to her lover reminisces of her childhood in Soviet Russia, the whirlwind of her affairs, the death striking her family, her loneliness. Her correspondent, Volodya, describes his journey to the army; from the scribbles of an office clerk to the odor of death surrounding him in an anti-monarchist revolution in China.

The twist? Their separation does not extend only through space. You will soon realize that Volodya is fighting off the Boxer Revolution of 1900 in China, while Sasha is much closer to our own time.

We are never sure whether their letters reach their destination. “Time will be back in joint when we meet again and I put my head on your knees”, Volodya dreams.

Can the ritual of writing beat death, time itself? How can flies in amber and Prester John be connected? Find out with this multi-sensory experience of the book, jumping from birth to death and everything in between.

12. Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman (1980)

• Grossman, Vasily (Author)

Are you both a history buff and a literature geek? Then you have found your Russian book soulmate.

The creator of this masterpiece, Vasily Grossman was a Jewish chemist who became a writer and war correspondent covering the battle of Stalingrad and the horrors of concentration camps, notably Treblinka. Life teachings and literary prose shape the characters at the front lines of the Stalingrad seizure, at German and Soviet detention centers, at the ‘enemy’ lines, and at home.

In Grossman’s dark alleyway that is “Life and Fate”, where the Holocaust, pointless mass death, and numbing propaganda lurk, moments of humanity spark with light. A woman comforting a scared child in a gas chamber; a German and Russian soldier holding hands during a bombing.

This book is not for the light-hearted, but it is a school of learning, empathy, and humanity.

13. The Big Green Tent by Lyudmila Ulitskaya (2010)

• Ludmila Ulitskaya (Author)
• 01/17/2017 (Publication Date) – Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio (Publisher)

Another ‘epic’ novel in our list of Russian books, the “Big Green Tent” follows the lives of three childhood friends, Ilya, Sanya, and Mikha.

You travel back to a society transitioning to a post-Stalinist era, with the samizdat (smuggling of currency and foreign goods) still strongly persecuted. Ilya’s heart speaks to the cinema, his story orbiting around the samizdat, dragging his friends with him. You will also discover the musical world of Sanya and will be inspired by MIkha’s passion for teaching, especially disabled children.

This is a story of friendship between outcasts fighting to survive in a country that is still haunted by a Stalinist world. A coming-of-age tale of brave loyalty, discovery, and selfless sacrifice. In short, this is a read that will entrust to you the stories of three tragic but utterly unique people.

14. The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre (2018)

• Macintyre, Ben (Author)

If there is one Russian book in our list that you can engorge in one sitting, this is it.

Oleg Gordievsky, a seemingly perfect product of KGB-ism and Sovietism, lies in the center of the book. Designed to be the perfect Russian spy weapon, he secretly defects and joins the MI6 in 1973, becoming the Russian Aldrich Ames.

The true story of Mr. Gordievsky and his eventual rescue mission is recounted with infectious enthusiasm by Ben Macintyre, a true connoisseur of espionage and spy storytelling.

The Cold War space race, the US-UK intelligence rivalry, and the occasional appearance of Mrs. Thatcher create the perfect backdrop for Mr. Gordievsky’s story to unravel and keep you on your toes.

Russian Short Stories

15. ward no. 6 by anton chekhov (1892).

• Clayton, John J. (Author)

As the name suggests, this Russian short story, by the beloved Chekhov, takes place in a mental asylum.

As an intellectually hungry doctor searches for meaning, he engages in philosophical discussions with patients on the concept of suffering and injustice. But, people talk, and the doctor soon seems to blend more and more with the patients rather than the sane.

Will he himself end up in the mental ward? Will social isolation and his quest for the meaning of suffering be his downfall?

A short story of existential crisis, suffering, neglect, and a dysfunctional society, who often lets the insane roam about and the healthy locked behind dilapidated walls.

16. The Queen of Spades  by Alexander Pushkin (1834)

• Pushkin, Alexander Sergeevich (Author)
• 52 Pages – 06/14/2012 (Publication Date) – ReadHowYouWant (Publisher)

Hermann searches furiously for the secret to win every time in a game of faro (17th-century French gambling game). When he learns that the Countess possesses the secret, he threatens the woman at gunpoint to reveal the trick.

A series of events ensues, involving ghosts, dead bodies opening their eyes at funerals, and a blinking queen of spades.

This is the classic Russian tale of avarice and gambling addiction, with a pinch of supernatural that is reminiscent of Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita.

Or is it all in Hermann’s mind? Pushkin will definitely not give you the answer.

17. The Overcoat  by Nikolai Gogol (1842)

• Gogol, Nikolai (Author)
• 52 Pages – 12/01/2014 (Publication Date) – Read & Co. Classics (Publisher)

Akaky Akakievich is the everyday man, a government employee who enjoys copying documents. He has a worn-out overcoat, which his tailor insists to have replaced.

Akaky proceeds to cut his expenses to conjure up 80 rubles, and he triumphantly does. Unfortunately, his coat gets stolen and so he turns to the police and an “important personage” to help him. Things might not turn out so well for poor Akaky Akakievich after all.

As Dostoyevsky once said, “We all come out of Gogol’s overcoat”.

The story is a miniature of Russian, and not only, life, full of strife and sacrifice only to achieve short-lived success. You travel through life-sucking red tape, wax-faced employees, and a man’s sudden emotional awakening through the possession of a material good.

It is tragically funny and it is Russian, it is all you expect from Gogol.

Russian Revolution & Soviet Union Books

18. the gulag archipelago by aleksandr solzhenitsyn (1973).

• Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr I. (Author)
• 672 Pages – 01/30/1997 (Publication Date) – Basic Books (Publisher)

“The Gulag Archipelago” is one of the landmark non-fiction Russian books on the horrors of Soviet labor camps where millions of Russians perished.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn considered this book his greatest work yet. In fact, this is the book that caused him to lose his Soviet citizenship and emigrate to West Germany. But this is also the masterpiece behind his 1970 Nobel prize.

Here’s the thing about humans; we cannot avert our gaze from catastrophe and pain. And this book is perhaps human suffering packed in a leafy box of paper and ink.

The story starts in 1918. In the aftermath of the October Revolution, Lenin orders the opening of the first gulags. And so the gulag system begins, accompanied by show trials, uncalled arrests, personality cults, and disappearances.

The recounting of the horror revolves around the year 1968, but Solzhenitsyn’s message is immortal; never underestimate the lengths a power-hungry leadership will go to when dissidents are involved.

19. Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)

• George Orwell (Author)
• 140 Pages – 04/06/2004 (Publication Date) – Signet (Publisher)

“Animal Farm” might not be a ‘book about Russia’ in the traditional sense. It is a story of animals, repressed beings who free themselves from the tyranny of Mr. Jones with the leadership of two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball. But, as history goes, one leader must shine.

Even though you have heard this story before, you wonder. You see the back-breaking work of Boxer, the extremely strong but extremely gullible horse. Hens have their precious eggs stolen and the cows’ milk vanishes while the sheep transform their motto from “four legs good, two legs bad” to “four legs good, two legs better” as the pigs start to walk on their hind legs. You wonder, will the tyranny never end?

This book might not mention anything remotely related to Russia even once. However, it is a canvas picturing the birth of a revolution, the creation of a dictatorship, the disillusionment and eventual sedation of society. It is the perfect allegory for the Soviet Union.

As the saying goes “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.

20. Bloodlands by Timothy D. Snyder (2010)

• Snyder, Timothy (Author)
• 560 Pages – 11/04/2016 (Publication Date) – Basic Books (Publisher)

14 million people died between 1933 and 1945, across central and northeastern Europe, from the Baltic States, Ukraine, and Belarus, to northeastern Romania and western Russia. The book discusses where the atrocities of the Nazi and Soviet regimes aligned, in both purpose and nature.

The Soviet Famines; the Great Purge; Poland’s occupation and the Katyn massacre; the German Hunger Plan; the Holocaust; the Belarus Nazi occupation, and the Warsaw uprising are revisited, showing in each case a different side of the same coin that is totalitarianism.

21. A History of the Russian Revolution by Leon Trotsky (1930)

• Leon Trotsky (Author)

If you truly want to dive into the nitty and gritty of the Russian Revolution, Trotsky’s three-volume life achievement is hard to avoid. Written while he was in exile in Turkey, Trotsky’s work has been one of the most comprehensive and analytical accounts of one of the most crucial events in history.

While one could criticize points of bias towards his adversaries, Trotsky attempts to explain in detail the socio-political events that led to the overthrow of the Tzar, the July demonstrations in Petrograd, and the eventual October Revolution and seize of power. Any Russian Revolution history nerd can regard the books as anything but monumental.

Wouldn’t you love to read these books about Russia… in Russian? Check out the best books , apps , and tutors to learn Russian and you’re well on your way.

Must-read books about Russia – Pin it!

2 thoughts on “21 Russian Books You Must Read in Your Lifetime”

These look like great books!

Another that I like is a novel, made up of 4 volumes, named:

“Quiet Flows The Don” by Mikhail Sholokhov. The Don is the name of a river.

( Please note- in this novel, there are crimes done to women, and also- war crimes. Please don’t read this book, if you’re bothered by either of these two subjects.)

Great notes about a great country. In fifty years I’ve read about one fourth of them. I hope to be wealthy enough to read all of them. Thank

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

© 2024 Hey Explorer

Stock images by Depositphotos

• NONFICTION BOOKS
• BEST NONFICTION 2023
• BEST NONFICTION 2024
• Historical Biographies
• The Best Memoirs and Autobiographies
• Philosophical Biographies
• World War 2
• World History
• American History
• British History
• Chinese History
• Russian History
• Ancient History (up to 500)
• Medieval History (500-1400)
• Military History
• Art History
• Travel Books
• Ancient Philosophy
• Contemporary Philosophy
• Ethics & Moral Philosophy
• Great Philosophers
• Social & Political Philosophy
• Classical Studies
• New Science Books
• Maths & Statistics
• Popular Science
• Physics Books
• Climate Change Books
• How to Write
• English Grammar & Usage
• Books for Learning Languages
• Linguistics
• Political Ideologies
• Foreign Policy & International Relations
• American Politics
• British Politics
• Religious History Books
• Mental Health
• Neuroscience
• Child Psychology
• Film & Cinema
• Opera & Classical Music
• Behavioural Economics
• Development Economics
• Economic History
• Financial Crisis
• World Economies
• Investing Books
• Artificial Intelligence/AI Books
• Data Science Books
• Sex & Sexuality
• Death & Dying
• Food & Cooking
• Sports, Games & Hobbies
• FICTION BOOKS
• BEST NOVELS 2024
• BEST FICTION 2023
• New Literary Fiction
• World Literature
• Literary Criticism
• Literary Figures
• Classic English Literature
• American Literature
• Comics & Graphic Novels
• Fairy Tales & Mythology
• Historical Fiction
• Crime Novels
• Science Fiction
• Short Stories
• South Africa
• United States
• Arctic & Antarctica
• Afghanistan
• Myanmar (Formerly Burma)
• Netherlands
• Kids Recommend Books for Kids
• High School Teachers Recommendations
• Prizewinning Kids' Books
• Popular Series Books for Kids
• BEST BOOKS FOR KIDS (ALL AGES)
• Ages Baby-2
• Books for Teens and Young Adults
• THE BEST SCIENCE BOOKS FOR KIDS
• BEST KIDS' BOOKS OF 2023
• BEST BOOKS FOR TEENS OF 2023
• Best Audiobooks for Kids
• Environment
• Best Books for Teens of 2023
• Best Kids' Books of 2023
• Political Novels
• New History Books
• New Historical Fiction
• New Biography
• New Memoirs
• New World Literature
• New Economics Books
• New Climate Books
• New Math Books
• New Philosophy Books
• New Psychology Books
• New Physics Books
• THE BEST AUDIOBOOKS
• Actors Read Great Books
• Books Narrated by Their Authors
• Best Audiobook Thrillers
• Best History Audiobooks
• Nobel Literature Prize
• Booker Prize (fiction)
• Baillie Gifford Prize (nonfiction)
• Financial Times (nonfiction)
• Wolfson Prize (history)
• Royal Society (science)
• Pushkin House Prize (Russia)
• Walter Scott Prize (historical fiction)
• Arthur C Clarke Prize (sci fi)
• The Hugos (sci fi & fantasy)
• Audie Awards (audiobooks)

World » Asia » Russia

Most recommended books.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

“Tolstoy famously said of War and Peace that it wasn’t even a novel. In a sense, it’s a total history of that epoch in Russia in a fictional form…It’s very interesting what happens with the novel linguistically. There’s been a study of the French words in the novel, because there are a large number, and they feature particularly in the early phases of the novel. Towards the end, the novel becomes more Russian in its literary and vernacular style, in its lexicon and syntax. In a sense, the Russian language is the true character of the novel. The growing Russianness of the language is the epiphany, that moment of self-discovery, that the Russian aristocracy goes through at that time.” Orlando Figes , Historian

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

“There was a real murder in Moscow in 1865, two elderly women killed by axe. Dostoyevsky was deeply moved by this crime. When a writer is deeply moved, he writes a novel. When it is a great writer, the story turns out to be a great novel. Crime and Punishment is on my list because I wrote my own version of the events. In a novel called F.M. (Dostoyevsky’s initials, Fyodor Mikhailovich) I introduce a newly discovered manuscript by Dostoevsky, a first version of Crime and Punishmen t, and it is a 100% mystery about a serial killer.” Boris Akunin , Thriller and Crime Writer

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman and translated by Robert Chandler

“ Life and Fate… is probably the most important work of fiction about World War II. But, in fact, it is more than just a fiction because it is based on very close reporting from his time with the soldiers. It is a deliberate act of literary homage to Tolstoy as one can see in the title. It is definitely the War and Peace of the 20th century.” Antony Beevor , Military Historians & Veteran

Catherine the Great and Potemkin: The Imperial Love Affair by Simon Sebag Montefiore

“Montefiore quotes a couple of ambassadors to Russia who had personally met Napoleon and George Washington. And both of them said that Potemkin was the most impressive personality that they’d ever seen. The book confirms that perception. It tells the story of this incredible personality and his incredible love which continued after Catherine and Potemkin ceased to be lovers and lasted until Potemkin’s death in 1791—five years before Catherine, although he was 10 years her junior.” Andrei Zorin , Historian

Lenin's Tomb by David Remnick

“To understand the collapse of communism at first hand, the unrivalled account is the Pulitzer-prize winning Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick. The former Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post (and now the editor of the New Yorker), Remnick exemplifies the virtues of American journalism: meticulous accuracy, a mosaic of gripping anecdotes and detail, and a powerful, evocative analytical framework.” Edward Lucas , Journalist

Browse book recommendations:

• Middle East

Last updated: May 08, 2024

We have a wide range of interviews recommending books on the history, politics and culture of Russia, and shed light on the reign of its current leader, Vladimir Putin, in power since 1999. For books to understand the Ukraine Russia conflict we turned to Harvard history professor Serhii Plokhy. For a recent book on Russia and where it's at, The Return of the Russian Leviathan by Russian academic Sergei Medvedev—who has already lost his job for writing critical of the current regime—won the 2020 Pushkin House Russian Book Prize and is a good place to start.

Looking back in time we have an excellent interview on Putin and Russian History with Edward Lucas, formerly a senior editor at the Economist, and now a security analyst. His recommendations include one of the best ever titles for a history book: It Was a Long Time Ago and It Never Happened Anyway . Our 2011 interview with British academic Simon Pirani on Putin's Russia is also an excellent insight into the late Yeltsin years and how Putin consolidated his power in his first decade.

Looking back to Russia's history ,  Andrei Maylunas chooses his best books on pre-Revolutionary Russia . Roland Chambers chooses his best books on the Russian Revolution and  Thomas Keneally chooses his best books on Revolutionary Russia . Both recommend A People’s Tragedy:  The Russian Revolution by Orlando Figes. Francis Spufford chooses his best books on Russia in the 20 th -century  and Robert Conquest chooses his best books on Communism . Robert Service chooses his best books on totalitarian Russia . Anna Reid chooses her best books on the Siege of Leningrad . We also have a selection of recommended books on Stalin and  about Mikhail Gorbachev , the final leader of the Soviet Union.

Thomas de Waal looks at conflict in the Caucasus . A number of other interviews also deal with Russia’s relationship with its periphery. Vanora Bennett chooses her best books on Chechnya and the poet, Nigan Hasan-Zadeh, chooses her best books on Azerbaijan .

On more cultural and literary themes, we have a collection of recommended Russian literature (including, among others, the best books on Solzhenitsyn, Vladimir Nabokov and Fyodor Dostoevsky . Rosamund Bartlett chooses the best Russian short stories . Books by Leo Tolstoy are some of the most frequently recommended on Five Books, attesting to the country's role in producing some of the greatest novels ever written.

Five Mysteries Set in Russia , recommended by Boris Akunin

The brothers karamazov by fyodor dostoevsky, the shooting party by anton chekhov, five plays: ivanov, the seagull, uncle vanya, three sisters, and the cherry orchard by anton chekhov, captain ribnikov by alexander kuprin.

The golden age of mystery largely passed Russia by, but that doesn't mean there weren't some great crime novels produced over the last 150 years. Bestselling crime novelist Boris Akunin , who was born Grigory Chkhartishvili in Soviet Georgia and now lives in exile in London, recommends five Russian mysteries—great works of literature that happen to also have a crime at their heart. If you'd like to see Boris/Grigory in person, he's speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival on 18 March, 2024 at 6pm .

The golden age of mystery largely passed Russia by, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some great crime novels produced over the last 150 years. Bestselling crime novelist Boris Akunin, who was born Grigory Chkhartishvili in Soviet Georgia and now lives in exile in London, recommends five Russian mysteries—great works of literature that happen to also have a crime at their heart. If you’d like to see Boris/Grigory in person, he’s speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival on 18 March, 2024 at 6pm .

The Best Russia Books: The 2023 Pushkin House Prize , recommended by Ekaterina Schulmann

Overreach: the inside story of putin and russia’s war against ukraine by owen matthews, russia's war by jade mcglynn, muppets in moscow: the unexpected crazy true story of making sesame street in russia by natasha lance rogoff, places of tenderness and heat: the queer milieu of fin-de-siècle st. petersburg by olga petri, cigarettes and soviets: smoking in the ussr by tricia starks, red leviathan: the secret history of soviet whaling by ryan tucker jones.

Since its invasion of Ukraine last year, Russia has been much in the news, with many of us struggling to better understand its politics, history, society and culture. Fortunately, we have the Pushkin House Book Prize, which every year celebrates the best nonfiction written about Russia and available in English. Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann , chair of this year's judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2023 shortlist.

Since its invasion of Ukraine last year, Russia has been much in the news, with many of us struggling to better understand its politics, history, society and culture. Fortunately, we have the Pushkin House Book Prize, which every year celebrates the best nonfiction written about Russia and available in English. Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2023 shortlist.

The Best Russian Novels , recommended by Orlando Figes

Fathers and sons by ivan turgenev, the white guard by mikhail bulgakov, the first circle by aleksandr solzhenitsyn, day of the oprichnik by vladimir sorokin.

They're among the finest novels ever written , often vast in their scope and ambitious in their subject matter. Some are long, others can be read in an afternoon. They're also one of the best ways of understanding Russian history. Historian Orlando Figes , author of The Story of Russia , recommends his favourite Russian novels, from the 19th century to today.

They’re among the finest novels ever written , often vast in their scope and ambitious in their subject matter. Some are long, others can be read in an afternoon. They’re also one of the best ways of understanding Russian history. Historian Orlando Figes, author of The Story of Russia , recommends his favourite Russian novels, from the 19th century to today.

The best books on Ukraine and Russia , recommended by Serhii Plokhy

Ukraine and russia: from civilied divorce to uncivil war by paul d'anieri, ukraine: what everyone needs to know by serhy yekelchyk, ukraine’s nuclear disarmament: a history by yuri kostenko, ukraine in histories and stories: essays by ukrainian intellectuals, the orphanage: a novel by serhiy zhadan.

Thousands of people have been killed since 2014 in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, in a war that has been rife with disinformation, misleading narratives and false flag operations. Here Serhii Plokhy , Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University, recommends books to better understand the conflict, from an introductory work by an eminent historian to the latest work of some of Ukraine's leading novelists.

Thousands of people have been killed since 2014 in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, in a war that has been rife with disinformation, misleading narratives and false flag operations. Here Serhii Plokhy, Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University, recommends books to better understand the conflict, from an introductory work by an eminent historian to the latest work of some of Ukraine’s leading novelists.

The best books on Contemporary Russia , recommended by Edward Lucas

Internal colonization by alexander etkind, bloodlands by timothy snyder, gulag: a history by anne applebaum, putin’s kleptocracy by karen dawisha.

Journalist and author Edward Lucas explains how a revanchist Russia can be traced back to Putin’s sense of betrayal after the collapse of the USSR

The Best Russian Short Stories , recommended by Rosamund Bartlett

The queen of spades and other stories by alexander pushkin, lady macbeth of mtsensk by nikolai leskov, master and man and other stories by leo tolstoy, about love and other stories by anton chekhov, the complete works of isaac babel by isaac babel.

In Russia, it’s often fallen to writers to challenge conventions and speak the truth, says the translator and biographer Rosamund Bartlett . She makes a personal selection of some of the most exhilarating Russian short fiction.

In Russia, it’s often fallen to writers to challenge conventions and speak the truth, says the translator and biographer Rosamund Bartlett. She makes a personal selection of some of the most exhilarating Russian short fiction.

The best books on Putin’s Russia , recommended by Simon Pirani

Godfather of the kremlin by paul klebnikov, russia’s oil and natural gas by michael ellman, labour after communism by david mandel, bourdieu’s secret admirer in the caucasus by georgi m derluguian, one soldier’s war in chechnya by arkady babchenko.

Vladimir Putin has crafted a careful narrative about his rise to power and rescuing of Russia. The trouble, says author and academic Simon Pirani , is it isn’t true. He recommends the best books on Putin's Russia.

Vladimir Putin has crafted a careful narrative about his rise to power and rescuing of Russia. The trouble, says author and academic Simon Pirani, is it isn’t true. He recommends the best books on Putin’s Russia.

The Best Vasily Grossman Books , recommended by Maxim D Shrayer

The life and fate of vasily grossman by john and carol garrard, the complete black book of russian jewry by ilya ehrenburg and vasily grossman, the road by vasily grossman, forever flowing by vasily grossman.

The Soviet writer bore witness to the horrors of Russia's World War Two and the Shoah — and deserves a place in literary history, says scholar Maxim D Shrayer . He recommends the best books by and about Vasily Grossman.

The Soviet writer bore witness to the horrors of Russia’s World War Two and the Shoah — and deserves a place in literary history, says scholar Maxim D Shrayer. He recommends the best books by and about Vasily Grossman.

The best books on The Russian Revolution , recommended by Roland Chambers

Six weeks in russia in 1919 by arthur ransome, a people’s tragedy: the russian revolution by orlando figes, the debate on soviet power by john lh keep (editor and translator), lenin in zurich by aleksandr solzhenitsyn, history of the russian revolution by leon trotsky.

The Russian revolution was the beginning of the modern age, says award-winning author Roland Chambers . He tells us what Solzhenitsyn imagined Lenin was like, and about the children’s author who led a double life as a spy in Bolshevik Russia.

The Russian revolution was the beginning of the modern age, says award-winning author Roland Chambers. He tells us what Solzhenitsyn imagined Lenin was like, and about the children’s author who led a double life as a spy in Bolshevik Russia.

The best books on Why Russia isn’t a Democracy , recommended by Martin Sixsmith

The russian tradition by tibor szamuely, august 1914 by aleksandr solzhenitsyn, ten days that shook the world by john reed, v d nabokov and the russian provisional government, 1917 by v d nabokov.

The former BBC Moscow correspondent and author Martin Sixsmith chooses five great works on Russia's doomed democracies.

The former BBC Moscow correspondent and author Martin Sixsmith chooses five great works on Russia’s doomed democracies.

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand seven hundred interviews, or eight thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

Five Books participates in the Amazon Associate program and earns money from qualifying purchases.

© Five Books 2024

The five best books to read before travelling to Russia

Five books that make us want to visit Russia , through space and time, from the Russian countryside of the early 19th century to Siberia, via St. Petersburg and Moscow

by Nikolai Gogol

In the Russian Empire of the early 19th century, the word 'soul '  was used to count serfs. Well, the male ones, anyway. Women were perceived to have no soul or value. The number of souls in an estate made it possible to work out its value. The amount of property tax on the property depended on it. But censuses only took place every five years and a number of 'dead souls'  continued to populate state registers. The book tells of land credit schemes employed by Chichikov, a crook who takes advantage of the absurdity of the system. At once brilliant, hilarious and ambitious, this book denounces various aspects of humans at their worst.

Crime and Punishment

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Raskolnikov is a young student. Sadly, he has to give up his studies. His sister is getting married in order to save the family and he decides to kill an old pawnbroker, partly for her money, partly (and this where it gets deep) to test the limits of freedom through the practice of evil and the transgression of the moral order. 'If one day Napoleon hadn't had the courage to shoot into an unarmed crowd, no -one would have paid any attention to him and he would have remained an unknown', he said  . The crime is perfect but doesn't produce the expected windfall and the moral upheavals lead Raskolnikov to turn himself in and serve his sentence in Siberia.

The Master and Margarita

by Mikail Bulgakov

This is about love, politics and social analysis. And it's also a satirical comedy. And a fairy tale. It's Faust in 1930s Stalinist Moscow. There are  a whole host of whimsical characters; the Master, Behemoth the black cat, a giant, headless beings, Pontius Pilate, Hella the impudent witch,  Satan and, inevitably, Margarita, who, in order to get back the man she loves, agrees to surrender her soul to the devil. Mikail Bulgakov, struggling with the Stalinist dictatorship, devoted the last twelve years of his life to bringing this novel to life, even though he probably knew it could not be published during his lifetime.  But he wrote the famous phrase ' the manuscripts will not burn ' , making this an ode to the freedom of thought. A major book in 20th century Russian literature.

The Gulag Archipelago

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Arrested in 1945 for criticising Stalin's policies in his private correspondence, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was sentenced to eight years in the labour camps - the gulags. He began writing his book as soon as he left the camp. Based not only on his own experience, the book is a mouthpiece for victims of the gulag : it brings together the testimonies of more than 200 of these prisoners. ' This book does not contain any invented characters or events. Men and places are referred to by their real names ', the author explains in the book.  It is so true, so strong, that he hesitated for a long time before publishing the book. It was when a manuscript was confiscated by the KGB that he decided to take the plunge. ' For years I resisted publishing this book when it was already finished : duty to the living weighed more heavily than duty to the dead. But now that this book has been seized by state security anyway, there is nothing left for me to do other than publish it without delay '. The book was released abroad in 1973. To say it put the cat among the pigeons, would be an understatement. In bien pensant Western Europe, the book tore the left apart. In the Soviet Union, it was outlawed until 1989. It is now on the list of books studied in Russian high schools, and we think is one of the best books to read before travelling to Russia.

Consolations of the Forest

by Sylvain Tesson

Finally, a less intense book; one about a 21st century French traveller who tells us about his voluntary retirement - six months in a cabin on the shores of Lake Baikal. For company he took a whole pile of books and a goodly supply of vodka. He hunts, he cuts wood. Apart from rare visits by other humans, his Russian ' neighbours ' - the nearest village is more than 60 miles from his small house - or French friends, he is there alone. And time changes him.

VERONIQUE DURRUTY

You may also like

Where to Stay in Moscow

Read the article

Where To Stay in St Petersburg

Why St Petersburg Should be your Next City Break

Understanding your Needs

Our team of destination experts will start by getting to know you and your unique requirements for your holiday

Personalisation

We work with you to build an ultra-personalised holiday itinerary with your choice of accommodation, experiences and activities

Our Services

All of our holidays include little extras designed to make a big difference to your trip, from fast-tracking you through airport check-in and security to our network of local concierges.

+ 44 (0) 20 3958 6120

• The Star ePaper
• Subscriptions
• Manage Profile
• Change Password
• Manage Logins
• Manage Subscription
• Transaction History
• Manage Billing Info
• Manage For You
• Manage Bookmarks
• Package & Pricing

Newspaper kiosks face closure in major cities in Italy

Monday, 13 May 2024

Related News

Asean and EU launch blue book 2024-2025, affirming strategic partnership between the two blocs

Eu irked over russia talks delay, vietnam irks eu by delaying meeting ahead of possible putin visit.

Pisano stands in her newspaper kiosk in Rome’s Esquilino district.

In the heart of Rome, for nearly a quarter of a century, the Pisano sisters held steadfast to their morning ritual, rain or shine, unfailingly opening their newspaper kiosk, or edicola in Italian.

Except in August when Italy practically shuts down for vacation, and on sacred Sundays, a day of rest, Alessandra and Patrizia Pisano opened their newsstand in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, one of Rome’s most beautiful squares, at 5:30 am and closed its shutters again at 3 pm.

But now, at 59, illness has struck Alessandra, the younger sister by a year, leaving Patrizia to confront an uncertain future alone.

”I can’t do it alone anymore,” says Patrizia. “And we can’t find a successor.”

This means that Italy will soon lose another edicola – one of the wonderfully old-fashioned newspaper kiosks that have adorned the streets of Italian cities, including Rome, for decades.

In the early 2000s, when the Pisano sisters took over their kiosk, there were still more than 36,000 of them nationwide. Today, less than a third remain, with numbers dwindling monthly.

This decline is due to various factors, primarily the death of newspapers, as in other countries. Tourism is another reason.

Instead, there are even more Airbnb rentals, pizza parlours and souvenir shops for customers with backpacks and trolley bags.

Even the estimated number of 11,000 kiosks across the country does not tell the whole truth.

In Rome in particular, the edicole (the correct plural) are being mislabelled in many places. They look like the old kiosks, but they are now souvenir shops.

Where newspapers used to be sold, tourists can now buy various trinkets of dubious value including plastic gladiator helmets, pasta-themed socks, T-shirts with rude slogans, cuddly toys, mobile phone chargers and tickets for open-top bus tours.

The daily newspaper La Repubblica, which is also sold by the country’s newsagents, recently lamented that “the edicola owners we trust have become junk dealers who have sacrificed the newspapers for a quick buck.”

With Pope Francis declaring 2025 a Holy Year, Rome is expecting up to 40 million visitors and the tourism business is likely to thrive further, while newspaper sales continue to dwindle.

The decline of print media is exacerbated by the rise of online news consumption, especially outside major cities like Rome, Milan or Florence.

The coronavirus pandemic also contributed to the drop in the circulation of newspapers. But for many, the edicola was more than just a kiosk, it was a cultural institution and a meeting place.

Kiosk as a cultural asset and community hub

"We’ve never seen ourselves purely as a point of sale,” says Patrizia Pisano. “We were the place to go in our neighbourhood for information of all kinds and also the place to go for a chat. There was always someone to talk to here.”

People came to the sisters in the morning, even before they had their first coffee at the counter. “Two generations of children grew up with us,” says Patrizia. “That’s what I’ll miss most.”

Together with many other traders, she recently drew attention to the decline of her business with an event dubbed “Night of the Kiosks.”

At nightfall, everyone lit lanterns or candles on their stands to draw attention to their plight. The industry appealed to the right-wing three-party coalition of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to save the kiosks.

The calls for tax breaks and subsidies to save these kiosks as cultural assets have so far fallen on deaf ears.

Only from the vending machine

Even the edicola outside Meloni’s official residence at Palazzo Chigi wasn’t spared.

Luciano Mondini’s kiosk was once the most famous kiosk in the country. The family business was where politicians and journalists met to comment on the latest government crisis.

A few months ago, after years of decline, Mondini’s daughters sold it.

Today, there is an edicola there again. But there is no longer a vendor – you can now buy your newspaper from a vending machine. – dpa

Related stories:

Tags / Keywords: Rome , Edicole , Newsstands , Italy , Pisano Sisters , Newspaper Kiosk , Palazzo Chigi , La Repubblica , Night of the Kiosks , Eternal City

Found a mistake in this article?

Report it to us.

Thank you for your report!

Start your UK university journey in Malaysia

Next in travel.

Trending in Lifestyle

Air pollutant index, highest api readings, select state and location to view the latest api reading.

• Select Location

Source: Department of Environment, Malaysia

Others Also Read

Best viewed on Chrome browsers.

We would love to keep you posted on the latest promotion. Kindly fill the form below

Thank you for downloading.

We hope you enjoy this feature!