Publishing translated books is an important part of the HSE Publishing House’s activities. We translate academic books and textbooks from English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish. English-language publications are the most numerous, and about 15 translated books are published annually.

The publishing house maintains excellent contacts with international partners and obtains rights for translation and publication of books in Russian. Our permanent partners include Harvard University Press, Cambridge University Press, Stаnford University Press, Yale University Press, and other international publishers that specialize in academic books and textbooks. In total, we have obtained licenses for over 150 book titles, and since 2012, we have been purchasing licenses for paper books together with their digital versions.

We have several different series of translated work. Since 2013 we have been publishing the ‘HSE Translated Textbooks’ series, where textbooks in the university’s priority fields are selected through a competitive process. So far, seven books have been published in the series, and seven more books are in the pipeline.

Since 2010, we’ve been publishing monographs in key socio-economic disciplines, uniting five series of books: Economic Theory, Social Theory, Political Theory, Cultural Studies, and Theory and Practice of Education. Until now, 85 books have been published as part of the project, two-thirds of which were translated texts.

In 2014, the series ‘Library of the Educational Studies Journal’ was created, which at the moment includes specifically translated literature, although we do plan to publish Russian authors as well. So far, five books have been published and eight more are on their way.

Most of the published translations are accompanied with a special introduction by the author addressed to the Russian speaking audience. Special attention is paid to the quality of translation and, in addition to the translator, an academic editor, who is an expert in the relevant field, works on each translation. The quality of our translated books has been officially recognised. In 2014, the Maurice Wachsmacher Prize for the best translation from French into Russian was awarded by the French Embassy in Moscow to Oleg Voskoboinikov, translator of Roland Recht’s book Believing and Seeing: The Art of Gothic Cathedrals (Le Croire Et le Voir: L’art des Cathedrals XIIe–XVe Siècle).

Our books also support the lecturing activities of foreign authors in Russia. In 2015, Avner Greif, a renowned economist and Stanford University professor, read a public lecture in Moscow as part of the joint ‘World Class’ project organized by Egor Gaidar Foundation and the USRF Fund. The event was a big success. The topic of the lecture was ‘Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy: Lessons from Medieval Trade’, and a book with the same name was published by the HSE Publishing House in 2013.

The Publishing House organizes presentations of books by foreign authors published in Russian with their participation. In 2014, a meeting with Joachim Radkau, Professor of New and Modern History at the Bielefeld University (Germany) took place at HSE to mark the publication of his book Nature and Power: A Global History of the Environment(Natur und Macht. Eine Weltgeschichte der Umwelt) in Russian.

The books are published to the highest graphic and artistic standards and have been met with approval by the authors and international publishers.

Translated books published by the HSE Publishing House have often participated in national publishing competitions, and regularly become best-sellers in book exhibitions and bookstores. Some of them have been reprinted many times.

HSE is involved with all stages of book preparation and publishing, from obtaining the copyright to printing.