Pushkin's status as the founding father of Russian literature owes much to his stylistic and linguistic innovations across a wide range of literary genres. But equally important is the influence he exerted on his successors via his exploitation of myth in its widest sense. His poetry, prose and drama frequently draw upon myths of classical antiquity, myths of modern European culture - grand narratives such as the Don Juan legend and Dante's Inferno - as well as uniquely Russian myths, particularly those associated with St Petersburg and its founder Peter the Great. It was through the...

Joe Andrew and Robert Reid assemble thirteen analytical discussions of Tolstoi’s key works, written by leading scholars from around the world. The works studied cover almost the entire length of Tolstoi’s creative career, from some of his earliest stories of the 1850s (The Sevastopol Stories), to those of his last period, including posthumous publications (The Kreutzer Sonata and Father Sergius). Particular attention is paid to his two masterpieces, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. All the studies are based on the most recent developments in cultural theory. The reader of this work will...