The book Natasha's Dance represents a cultural history of the Russian identity which is revealed through such artefacts as the folk embroidery of Natasha’s shawl and musical conventions of the peasant songs which depict the national consciousness.

Through a «window» onto a nation’s inner life, the historian Orlando Figes tries to give answers to such questions, like: What did it mean to be Russian? Where was the true Russia and what was Russia’s place and mission in the world?

The thematic approach of the author explores a separate strand of the Russian cultural identity progressing from the 18th century to the 20th century.

The author, through the writers’, musicians’ and artists’ visions skillfully interweaves the great works  with folk embroidery, peasant songs, religious icons, and all the customs of daily life, from food and drink to bathing habits to beliefs about the spirit world ranging them all from  high and low.

Figes O. Natasha's dance : a cultural history of Russia / Orlando Figes. - 1st ed.. - New York : Metropolitan Books, 2002. - XXXIII, 728, [1] p., [16] p. of plates: ill., maps. (Location - English reading room, catalogue code – 947 FIG)