A new edition of one of the most popular stories by Pushkin also contains works which are not easily available in English, including the novel Dubrovsky Beginning this collection of Pushkin"s shorter fiction is "The Queen of Spades," perhaps the most celebrated short story in Russian literature. The young Hermann, while watching some friends gambling, hears a rumor of how an officer"s grandmother is always able to predict the three winning cards in a game. Hermann gradually becomes obsessed with the old woman and her seemingly mystical powers, and seeks to extract the secret from her at any cost. The collection also includes Dubrovsky, the story of a man"s desire to avenge himself after his land is unjustly taken from him by an aristocrat; "Peter the Great"s Negro," a tale inspired by Pushkin’s maternal grandfather; and the unfinished story "Egyptian Nights," a meditation on poetry and the poet. Together, they represent some of the most striking and enduring of Pushkin"s prose fiction, and are augmented by pictures and an extensive section on Pushkin’s life