Melville House Books

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Moscow State University (better know by its Russian acronym MGU), the school has built a new library, instituted a new line of textbooks, and mounted an ambitious “exhibition detailing the history of MGU at the State Historical Museum. The display features hundreds of rare books, documents, manuscripts and assorted objects of interest.” As Victor Sonkin reports in a Moscow Times story, MGU “has been the center of Russian liberal thought, daring research and first-rate education ever since. An MGU degree is highly valued these days both by Western academics and headhunters at home.” However, says Sorkin, who attended the school and is a part-time lecturer there, “it must be said that not all is flowers and joy for the university,” and “The general decline of secondary educational standards in Russia is a growing concern . . . .”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.