Book excerpt: Selected works from one of Russia’s greatest writers, including “The Queen of Spades”, “The Stationmaster” and a selection of Pushkin’s best poetic work In a fabulous translation by Anthony Briggs, The Queen of Spades and Selected Works offers the most comprehensive overview of Pushkin’s mastery of the written word. This stunning volume contains a diverse range of Pushkin’s literary works, including "The Queen of Spades", the most celebrated short story in Russian literature which served as inspiration for Tchaikovsky's eponymous opera. In "The Stationmaster", Pushkin reimagines the parable of the Prodigal Son; "Tsar Nikita and His Forty Daughters" showcases some of his more provocative early poetry; and the narrative poem "The Bronze Horseman", inspired by a statue of Peter the Great, is one of Pushkin’s most celebrated works. Alongside this is a selection of Pushkin’s best lyric poetry, extracts of his best plays and an excerpt from his classic novel in verse, Yevgeny Onegin.