The Top 10 Short Stories - The Ukrainians: The top ten short stories written by

Written by Nikolai Gogol

Narrated by Mark Rice-Oxley

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.

In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

Between the Russian Empire and Europe warily sits Ukraine. Her own history has been brush stroked either by periods of independence or under the oppressive yoke of other more powerful and belligerent neighbours.

It’s authors, almost always cited as ‘Russian’, or from ‘Little Russia’ are diverse and brilliant. Some of them stayed, some moved to other lands but always their works harbour part of their Ukrainian souls despite the ever-changing territorial borders.

01 - The Top 10 - The Ukrainians - An Introduction

2 - The Nose by Nikolai Gogol

3 - The Shades, A Phantasy by Vladimir Korolenko

4 - Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov

5 - A Witches Den by Helena Blavatsky

6 - The Informer by Joseph Conrad

7 - The Signal by Vsevolod Garshin

8 - The General's Will by Vera Jelihovsky

9 - The Blind Ones by Isaac Babel

10 - The Revolutionist by Mikhail Petrovich Artzybashev

11 - Dethroned by Ignaty Potapenko

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Copyright Group
• Release date: Jan 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781803545271

Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Gogol was a Russian novelist and playwright born in what is now considered part of the modern Ukraine. By the time he was 15, Gogol worked as an amateur writer for both Russian and Ukrainian scripts, and then turned his attention and talent to prose. His short-story collections were immediately successful and his first novel, The Government Inspector, was well-received. Gogol went on to publish numerous acclaimed works, including Dead Souls, The Portrait, Marriage, and a revision of Taras Bulba. He died in 1852 while working on the second part of Dead Souls.