Moscow, "Evropa" Publishing House, 2006 - 288 pp.

What do we know about the true story of the Brest peace accords? Almost nothing. Only some fragmented recollections of the Soviet books and films that mainly served as   illustrations to Stalin's «Short history course of the Bolshevik party». These books are cursed with oblivion. However, the lengthy relation of the negotiations that led to a separate peace between the revolutionary Russia from the one side and Germany with its allies on the other reads almost like a detective novel. What makes it especially spicy – a fact that is little known outside a tiny circle of experts – is that the Russian diplomatic defeat in Brest-Litovsk was due not only to the inconsistent adventurism of the Petrograd negotiators. A key role in the game was played by a «joker». A new partner has unexpectedly joined the negotiating table, the Ukrainian Central Rada and – notwithstanding its precarious position – managed to sign a separate peace accord with Germany behind the back of the Petrograd delegation.

Moscow, Europe Publishing House, 2006, pp 60

«In the beginning, there was a Word…» It took sovereign democracy only a few months to pass the usually long way from public reflections of its author, Vladislav Surkov, to a holistic concept. During this time, the majority of the political class and expert community have been drawn into the orbit of its influence. The West has recognized it as a new identity of Russian elite. Today, sovereign democracy constitutes the foundation of the program of Unified Russia and the basis of the ideology of Russian conservatism.

How did it all happen? What is sovereign democracy? How and whence did this term emerge? What does it mean for Russia, its present and future? Why did Unified Russia take it as the basis of its program?

Russian political scientists who directly participated in elaboration of this doctrine are answering these and other questions in this collection of articles.

Moscow, Europe Publishing House, 2006, pp 216

The events in the city of Kondopoga were not merely a local social eruption in a small town. The authors are exposing to us a scenario in which many real problems (rather typical of Russia) and social antagonisms within a small town have been superimposed on several other battles conducted on an absolutely different level of politics. On a regional level, we see split elites contending for the electorate under the available party brands. On the federal level, there are various forces struggling for a factor that would help break the existing status quo. Combined, these struggles have resulted in not just a local conflict but emergence of a brand new technology for instigating manageable crises, which can be applied to almost any part of Russia.

The investigation conducted by Maxim Grigoriev’s group with support from the Russian Public Chamber’s committee for regional development and local self-government makes it possible to conduct a detailed factual analysis of the clichйs and myths formed as a result of the confrontation. Both the situation itself and its context are much more complex and ambivalent than they appeared in media coverage.

Moscow, Europe Publishing House, 2006, pp 688

The book by Dominic Lieven, lecturer at the London School of Economics and descendant of officers in Russian service, portrays Russian history in a general context of empire destinies. The British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire – it is only in this environment, which – to a greater or lesser extent – has always been hostile to Russia, that the history of our country and its current perception in the West can be fully understood. What is probably the most interesting here is Lieven’s attempt to retrace the process of disintegration of empires and its long-term effects. The author’s comparative historical approach to the complicated subject of empires is not often to be found in contemporary literature. Besides, the specific combination of scientific distancing and the author’s emotional attachment to the country of his ancestors bestows a unique individuality to the book.

Moscow, Europe Publishing House, 2006,  pp 132

This tiny book is about struggle, a subject not readily discussed in the present-day European political correctness milieu. The author is one of the first great chess masters who know very well that the higher is a chess-player’s skill, the less freedom he has. The striving for precision sometimes turns into its opposite here, as Lasker is inventing concepts that do not make it easy to follow his tumultuous thinking. Nevertheless, his comments on strategy and tactics, on principles of saving forces, on the logic of struggle for survival and the principle of justice are certainly interesting. Logics have been excluded from the school curriculum, and an acquaintance with Lasker’s book yet again suggests that this is probably a serious omission.

Moscow, Europe Publishing House, 2006, pp 480

The book represents the first Russian attempt to study specifics of information work in the state apparatus. Information work is examined as a special format of public administration. The manual covers analysis of the content of information space, various stages of the information process, the state of information balance, and presents the subjects and objects within an information process. Drawing upon their own experience and that of their colleagues, the authors offer practical recommendations on organization of work with mass media in government agencies, including sectoral and regional levels of administration.

The book is intended for press secretaries, senior officers of government agencies and local administration bodies, who need to be aware of the opportunities offered by information work and its limitations.

Moscow, "Evropa" Publishing House, 2006 - 384 pp.

The decline of the Han dynasty marking the boundary between antiquity and the Middle Ages in China has given the Chinese society and the Chinese civilization its look for many centuries ahead. This book is mainly dedicated to the last decades of the Han dynasty. It is called upon to contribute to the disclosure of the principal contradictions and tendencies of the historical process in Imperial China at that poignant moment. The reader will find here information on major political events and the state structure of the late Han Empire that were almost left out of the historical studies of China.

Moscow, Europe Publishing House, 2006, pp 564  

The monograph deals with one of the most complicated and intricate periods in the history of Transcarpathia – the struggle of European powers for control over the region. The author discloses many previously unknown or controversial episodes of internal and external politics of neighboring states during this period. The book focuses on destinies of the large population that lived in Transcarpathia under various regimes. The book was written on the basis of previously unpublished materials from the archives of Hungary, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia. Many of these documents are today inaccessible.

Moscow, Europe Publishing House, 2006, pp 268

There are persistent allegations circulating in present-day Estonia that Estonian soldiers who served in the Wehrmacht during World War II did not take part in punitive actions against civilians, mass executions and extermination of Jews. These assertions come from not only Estonian war veterans and young neo-Nazis, who freely advance slogans hardly fit for a country accepted to the European Union, but also high-ranking officials, including Estonia’s ex-president Arnold Rььtel. The official view of current Estonian politicians is that Estonians in German uniform were fighting for freedom of Estonia only in their homeland and only against the Soviets, doing their utmost to «lay the foundation for continuation of resistance that brought about restoration of Estonian independence decades later». There happen more refined lies, yet this is an outrageous lie, refuted by the documents collected in this book, documents that speak for themselves and need no commentaries.

Moscow, Europe Publishing House, 2006, pp 240

The book deals with the reforming of relationships between the central RF government and federation subjects conducted in 2000-2006, and actions of the federal authorities that accompanied it. The author analyzes changes in the statutory provisions that govern formation of the Federation Council, expansion of constitutional and legal liabilities, the «Kozak reform», the «governor reform», etc. The book is intended for politicians, parliamentarians, government officials, journalists, teachers, students and all those who are interested in modern political history of Russia and problems of constitutional (state) law.