Leonid Andreyev's Expressionist novella The Red Laugh is an experimental, fragmentary depiction of war and its psychological effects, both on those who participate in the fighting and on those who hear of its atrocities from afar; it was inspired by the horrors of the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. Translated into English for the first time since 1905, it is here paired with a fresh translation of Andreyev's earlier story 'The Abyss,' which caused scandal when it first appeared in 1902. This edition provides an illuminating introduction by translator Kirsten Lodge establishing the importance of Andreyev to both the Russian and to the overall modernist canon, as well as a range of background materials that help set the novel in its historical, literary, and artistic contexts.

This edition brings together Tolstoy's 1886 masterpiece and several shorter works that connect with it in thought-provoking ways. The stories are accompanied by a fascinating selection of contextual materials, including nineteenth-century reviews, excerpts from Tolstoy's letters concerning death, excerpts from a pamphlet he wrote after witnessing the slaughtering of livestock, and a portfolio of relevant photographs. As well as crafting fresh translations both of the stories themselves and of the background materials, Kirsten Lodge has provided an illuminating introduction and helpful annotations.

Cruelty, corruption, sensuality, desperation and death: the sensationalism and morbid pessimism that characterized French decadence in the late nineteenth century quickly attracted converts throughout Europe, including Russia. Here are the horrifying, dramatic and erotic short stories and poetry, most of which have never before been translated into English, by the most decadent Russian writers. These explore the depths of the unconscious, as their characters experience sadism, masochism, rape, murder, suicide, and, in a story by Gippius, even passionate love for the dead. * describes the spread of madnessand the collapse of advanced, but decadent, civilizations that indulge in refined pleasures * Andreyev portrays the collapse of all moral values on a personal level in his famous story The Abyss Femmes fatales lure men to destruction, but the most seductive enchantress in the anthology is death itself.