I was a physics student in Italy in the early '00 and math and physics MIR books in Italian were beginning to be hard to find as newer editions were coming out.

I was a physics student in Italy in the early '00 and math and physics MIR books in Italian were beginning to be hard to find as newer editions were coming out. I remember the feeling of pride when I snagged a copy of a book on calculus of variations for a couple of euros. I still think the graphic design was amazing [0]. Obviously Landau-Lifshitz was also a must read (though it was starting to show its age in some subjects). I also recently found a MIR Russian translation of Gardner in a market in Kyiv (illustrated hardcover for under $2...). [0] https://www.ebay.it/itm/Edizioni-MIR-Krasnov-Calcolo-delle-Variazioni-matematica-meccanica-analisi-/124326070237 https://www.ebay.it/itm/Edizioni-MIR-Krasnov-Calcolo-delle-V...