Straddling Europe and Asia, the Russian Federation is the largest country in the world and home to a panoply of religious and ethnic groups from the Muslim Tatars to the Buddhist Buryats. Over the past 30 years, Russia has experienced the most dramatic transformation of any modern state. Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation provides insight into this rapidly developing country. The volume includes coverage of pivotal movements, events, and persons in the late Soviet Union (1985-1991) and contemporary Russia (1991-present), as well as detailed entries covering the country's expansive geography, unique culture, diverse ethnic groups, and complex political and social environment. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, maps, a bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, and organizations.

Straddling Europe and Asia, the Russian Federation is the largest country in the world and home to a panoply of religious and ethnic groups from the Muslim Tatars to the Buddhist Buryats. Over the past 40 years, Russia has experienced the most dramatic transformation of any modern state. The second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation provides insight into this rapidly developing country. This volume includes coverage of pivotal movements, events, and persons in the late Soviet Union (1985-1991) and contemporary Russia (1991-present), This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Russia.

A latecomer continually hampered by government control and interference, the Russian theatre seems an unlikely source of innovation and creativity. Yet, by the middle of the nineteenth century, it had given rise to a number of outstanding playwrights and actors, and by the start of the twentieth century, it was in the vanguard of progressive thinking in the realms of directing and design. Its influence throughout the world was pervasive: Nikolai Gogol', Anton Chekhov and Maksim Gor'kii remain staples of repertories in every language, the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavskii, Vsevolod Meierkhol'd and Mikhail Chekhov continue to inspire actors and directors, while designers still draw on the graphics of the World of Art group and the Constructivists. What distinguishes Russian theater from almost any other is the way in which these achievements evolved and survived in ongoing conflict or cooperation with the State. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Russian Theatre covers the history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on individual actors, directors, designers, entrepreneurs, plays, playhouses and institutions, Censorship, Children’s Theater, Émigré Theater, and Shakespeare in Russia. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Russian Theatre.

At its peak, the KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) was the largest secret police and espionage organization in the world. It became so influential in Soviet politics that several of its directors moved on to become premiers of the Soviet Union. In fact, Russian president Vladimir V. Putin is a former head of the KGB. The GRU (Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoe Upravlenie) is the principal intelligence unit of the Russian armed forces, having been established in 1920 by Leon Trotsky during the Russian civil war. The GRU was the first subordinate to the KGB, and while the KGB broke up with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the GRU remains intact, cohesive, highly efficient, and with far greater resources than its civilian counterparts. These are just two of the long list of Russian and Soviet intelligence agencies that are covered in the Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence. Through a list of acronyms and abbreviations, a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on organizations like the Oprichnina, Okhrana, GPU, NKVD, KGB, GRU, Smersh, SVR, and FSB, a clear picture of the history of this subject is presented. Entries also cover Soviet and Russian leaders, leading intelligence and security officers, the Lenin and Stalin purges, the Gulag, and noted espionage cases.

Angola, slowly recovering from a twenty-seven year civil war, is becoming a regional super-power in southern Africa. This rise can be attributed to oil, diamonds, a battle-tested armed forces and a political system that is dominated by one party – the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola – MPLA). Problems remain to be solved. The vast wealth is in the control of the elite while the vast majority of the people live on less than two dollars per day. Corruption is rife, the health and education system in shambles, landmines remain a festering problem and the opposition is intimidated and split into various factions. President Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled Angola for almost thirty-eight years, has opted not to run for re-election in the August 2017 elections. Instead his hand-picked successor João Lourenço was elected president. Interestingly, dos Santos has not surrendered his presidency of the party. This third edition of Historical Dictionary of Angola contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Angola.

From the start of its existence organized labor has been the voice of workers to improve their economic, social, and political positions. Beginning with small and very often illegal groups of involved workers it grew to the million member organizations that now exist around the globe. It is studied from many different perspectives – historical, economic, sociological, and legal – but it fundamentally involves the struggle for workers’ rights, human rights and social justice. In an often hostile environment, organized labor has tried to make the world a fairer place. Even though it has only ever covered a minority of employees in most countries, its effects on their political, economic, and social systems have been generally positive. Despite growing repression of organized labor in recent years, membership numbers are still growing for the benefit of all employees, including the non-members. Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor: Fourth Edition makes the history of this important feature of life easily accessible. The reader is guided through a chronology, an introductory essay, 600 entries on the subject, appendixes with statistical material, and an extensive bibliography including Internet sites. This book gives a thorough introduction into past and present for historians, economists, sociologists, journalists, activists, labor union leaders, and anyone interested in the development of this important issue.

The conduct of the foreign relations of the Russian state in its several contexts—Kiev Rus, Muscovy, Russian Empire, Provisional Government, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and Russian Federation—were unique in its common currents from the beginning to the present. Geography was certainly a key factor, located in the center of the world's largest land mass and surrounded by often hostile forces. “All of the Russias” had to confront the problems of open frontiers and the conduct of relations with a number of adjacent states of different ethnicity, and with many that were more distant. No other nation states had to face such complex and divergent circumstances over their histories. Most other Great Powers were neighbors of similar states in culture and historical background, whereas Russia had to deal with Asian, as well as European countries. The Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Foreign Policy covers the history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important individuals, events, and other aspects of the foreign policy of this important country. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Russian foreign policy.

Thoroughly updated, this essential reference source introduces scholars to the study of organized labor on the international as well as national level. Contains 400 entries describing the labor movements in countries around the world, and the important people, organizations, ideas, and political parties involved in organized labor. Includes a summary list of past and present international labor leaders, lists of global union federations and the affiliated organizations of major national labor federations, and analytical lists of the membership of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

This new edition of Historical Dictionary of Azerbaijan contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture.

The third edition of the Historical Dictionary of Mongolia greatly expands on the previous edition through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 1000 cross-referenced dictionary entries on important people, places, events, and institutions, as well as significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects.