Chekhov's Dama s sobachkoy (1899) is perhaps the most celebrated example of his shorter prose and one of the most famous stories in Russian literature. The tale of an adulterous liaison, set in Yalta, it shows to greatest effect Chekhov's propensity for the conjuring of mood and atmosphere. The tale's modernity is displayed too in its anticlimactic conclusion of poignant open-endedness: ' ...and it was clear to both that the end was still far, far off and that the most complicated and difficult part was only beginning.'

This well established Russian vocabulary book contains some two thousand words, arranged in sections, according to subject grouping, of roughly equal length, but of varying difficulty and importance. All the words included are of high frequency, and the student who knows them all will have acquired an essential basic Russian vocabulary. The categories are grouped in such a way as to form a basis for elementary essay writing, oral work or revision, and they range from 'the universe' and 'nature', through 'colours' and 'countries', to the main prepositions and prefixes.

The First Russian Volcabulary gives all necessary information on some 2300 words considered most important for various purposes like travel to the Soviet Union, conversation with Russians, elementary essay-writing, the reading of simple literature, and success in school examinations. The work includes a bibliography, list of abbreviations and a repeat list of most basic words.