In a Certain Kingdom: Twelve Russian Fairy Tales

by Thomas P. Whitney (Translator)

Book by

136 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Thomas Porter Whitney was an American diplomat, author, translator, and philanthropist. He earned a Masters degree in Russian history from Columbia University in 1940, and is best known for translating the work of Nobel Prize winning author, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. In 1947, he became the Moscow correspondent for The Associated Press and later was appointed head of the Moscow office.

Reviews

[Karl Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

As advertised: a collection of Russian 'fairy tales', supposedly in their purest form. As an American reader, they sound silly and wacky until you start to compare them to the fairy tales we grew up with (especially the Grimm's Tales), and maybe it's not so outlandish after all. A fun, light read, with an interesting scholarly historical portion at the back.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating book! I only knew one of the stories before reading it, and I really enjoyed hearing more Russian fairy tales. I wish there had been a bit of background information on each story, because there were times that I felt like some knowledge of Russian history or culture would have been helpful. Still, it was great, especially if you want to learn some fairy tales that aren't often told in the US. My favorite stories were "Go I Don't Know Where and Bring Back I Don't Know What" and "The Swan-Geese."

[Samuel Jacque · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good, but not so exciting