Book excerpt: The Routledge Intermediate Russian Reader has been specially designed for intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced learners of Russian and comprises a wide range of graded readings. The materials include authentic extracts from mass media and literature by renowned modern writers such as A. Slapovsky, E. Grishkovets, A. Starobinets and M. Shishkin. The texts have been specifically selected to ensure that students receive maximum exposure to topics relevant to Russian language, history, culture and society, making the Reader an engaging and stimulating resource with a meaningful cultural context. Each reading is supported by: a general introduction supportive exercises consolidating students’ knowledge of frequent grammar and vocabulary structures from the texts text related comprehension questions and classroom tasks to help students build up strong and productive spoken and written skills a vocabulary list with English translation and answer key to the exercises for helpful reference lists for further reading, suggested topics for essays and discussions and internet research tasks to encourage proactive further learning. Suitable for both class use and independent study, The Routledge Intermediate Russian Reader is an essential tool for increasing language proficiency, developing reading skills and enriching learners’ cultural knowledge. Internet links to the tasks are available at www.routledge.com/9780415678872