Academic Studies Press

Why did more than 15,000 people from the former Soviet bloc join ISIS - nearly a third of the group's foreign fighter? n Goodbye, ISIS: What Remains is Future, award-winning journalist Katerina Sergatskova investigates one of the most underexplored chapters of global terrorism. Drawing on years of reporting across Georgia, Turkey, Iraq, and Ukraine, she traces the personal stories of ISIS recruits, their families, and even those falsely accused of affiliation. Through vivid interviews and groundbreaking reporting, Sergatskova reveals how post-Soviet fighters shaped ISIS, how the movement spread into the Caucasus, and why Ukraine has become an unexpected landing place for some of its veterans. Alongside this narrative, she connects today’s extremist networks to earlier figures like Dzhokhar Dudayev and Shamil Basayev, showing how past conflicts laid the groundwork for ISIS’s reach. Both deeply human and geopolitically urgent, Goodbye, ISIS challenges assumptions about terrorism, migration, and security in the post-Soviet world — and why understanding it matters for global stability.

This dichotomy lies at the heart of the novel, The Eve of  November 7, in which two realities clash: the utterly false, morally hollow, grotesquely ugly Soviet reality and the world of the protagonist, fighting for his spiritual survival. In this collision, the dramatic events that the author himself experienced are bizarrely refracted. The novel’s action takes place in the course of one night and unwinds like a powerful spring, continuously impelling one to follow the story’s plot. Love, betrayal, changes of masks, flip-flop images, ghostly guests who care about the future, surreal characters and scenes as well as Kafkaesque psychology–all are imbued with the author’s erudite, insightful and lively prose.

Six Trains of No Return collects twelve short stories and novellas that examine immigrant sagas and dislocations that are both uniquely personal and universal. These are the stories of past lives and loves, memories both fragile and unreliable, and our shared ties to larger historical narratives. They also evoke the Soviet Jewish experience during what was thought to be “The End of History” of the waning days of the USSR.  A French-Cambodian woman embarks on a series of mysterious trips to the “killing fields” of her youth, an encounter in a Nigerian jail forces the narrator to face an impossible moral dilemma, a tender friendship grows between three young soldiers drafted into the Soviet army, a story of a young man’s chance romantic encounter with a childhood friend and how it triggers memories of long-forgotten schoolyard cruelties, a pair of soldiers in the waning days of the Soviet Union watching the movie Jaws for the first time at a semi-underground video salon. Emotionally resonant yet edged with quiet humor, these stories explore themes of displacement, belonging, and memory—speaking across cultures and backgrounds.

It would be difficult to overestimate the importance, originality, and success of current Polish female directors, whose bold, vivid features have taken the film industry by storm. Film’s Feisty Femmes spotlights nine of the most productive, internationally acclaimed women in a profession traditionally dominated by men but characterized in 21st-century Poland by receptivity to creative talent regardless of gender. With the transition to a market economy, institutional innovations appreciably transformed the country’s filmmaking—a transformation of which audiences are the primary beneficiaries. The volume’s seven chapters combine textual analysis with assessment of camerawork, situating each director’s major works in a cultural context that includes significant developments in Poland as well as international trends in cinema and gender politics. A major issue addressed throughout entails the directors’ relationship to feminism in narratives that are unapologetically gynocentric.

A gripping, unexpectedly humorous, and deeply human portrait of life in Ukraine reshaped by war. In this powerful collection of essays, writer Andriy Lyubka—thrust into the role of an unlikely volunteer—offers a firsthand account of delivering aid to the front lines.With raw honesty and surprising wit, Lyubka captures both the absurdity and the heartbreak of war. He reflects on time lost, the emotional toll of conflict, and the everyday defiance that keeps hope alive. From the logistical nightmares of aid distribution to the rich aroma of coffee that briefly restores a soldier’s sense of normalcy, War from the Rear reveals a side of war rarely seen—the human side.More than just a chronicle of conflict, this book is a tribute to the individuals who endure it, the bonds they build, and the acts of kindness that shine through even the darkest times. It’s an essential, unforgettable perspective on Ukraine’s ongoing fight that will stay with readers long after the final page.

Discover a hidden masterpiece from one of history’s greatest writers—now available in its most complete and accessible form. Leo Tolstoy’s Writings for Young Children brings to light Leo Tolstoy’s revolutionary contributions to childhood literacy, a project he considered one of his most significant achievements.Between War and Peace and Anna Karenina, Tolstoy dedicated himself to the cause of education, opening a school on his Yasnaya Polyana estate and developing an innovative approach to teaching literacy. His carefully crafted collection of stories, fables, and historical lessons—designed to engage young minds—became a cornerstone of Russian primary education for decades. For the first time, this volume presents a complete, annotated translation of all 300 stories from Tolstoy''s New ABC Book and four Primers for Reading faithfully preserving his original vision.  A must-have for scholars of Russian literature, educators, parents, and history enthusiasts, Leo Tolstoy’s Writings for Young Children offers a rare glimpse into the mind of a literary giant as he sought to transform the way children learn to read. Whether you are a student of Tolstoy’s works or a champion of literacy, this essential volume belongs on your bookshelf.

In this poignant and darkly humorous memoir, Sonya Vesterholt recounts her experiences growing up in Leningrad during the Stalin era and the post-Stalin "thaw."This collection of memories, stories, and jokes conveys personal experiences of historical events in the Soviet Union. Characters collide with the oppressive state espionage system that interferes in their personal lives and explore key moments from the author’s childhood and youth. With both humor and bitterness, readers discover Sonya’s routine heroism and resistance to state power as well as ironic details of everyday life. Under these circumstances, something as seemingly straightforward as a short message about the dog’s health becomes a symbol of victory over fear and absurdity.