A comprehensive guide to children's and adolescent fiction, traditional literature, and biography/autobiography dealing with the nationalities of the Soviet Union, this book is intended as a resource for teachers, librarians, and parents seeking to imbue young people with a sympathetic understanding of another culture. It indicates the breadth of publications in the field and offers guidance in selecting the most appropriate books. The annotated bibliography thoroughly describes 536 books written in or translated into English and published from 1900 to 1990, portraying the lives of Russian and Soviet immigrants in Europe and North America. The literature itself reflects more than a thousand years of history, from the establishment of Kievan Rus', the largest state of early-medieval Europe, through the Mongol invasion and the rise and fall of imperial Russia, to the establishment of the Soviet Union and the period of political and cultural ferment in the early 1990s.

The sources are grouped according to major geographical and political regions (The Russian Federation; The Ukraine, Byelorussia, and Moldavia; Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan; Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) and further divided by genres. Annotations generally provide plot summary, literary analysis and criticism, evaluation of illustrations, and information about literary and artistic awards. Reading and use levels are included with the citations. Indexes of author, translator, and illustrator, of titles, and of subjects are provided, with the latter referring to topical areas as well as historical periods and personages and geographical and political areas and terms. The volume introduction offers a survey of the Soviet lands and peoples and their literary activities, with special emphasis on literature for youth.