About the book “In the Land of Ice and Fire. Forgotten Letters of Lord Royston and Mr. Poinsett from the Russian Empire" “In Russia, people are not burdened with the obligation to think with their own heads, and power is divided between the Emperor, the Whip, the Bayonet and the Stick,” wrote one bored English lord, who at the beginning of the 19th century went to get acquainted with the distant northern country.

From the book “My Mother is a Cleaning Lady” by Zhang Xiaoman Journalist Zhang Xiaoman's book My Mother is a Cleaner offers a look at China's large, complex society through the eyes of an ordinary person whose hard work usually goes unnoticed. We invite you to read an excerpt from the Russian translation of this essay, which became a bestseller in its homeland and is recognized as one of the best documentary works of recent years.