John Riley (1937-1978) was known as one of the members of the so-called Cambrrdge School of poetry, and was co-editor, with Tim Longville, of the seminal Grosseteste Review and its associated press. His poetry, as with many others associated with the magazine, shows the influence of Pound and Olson, but it also reveals his interest in the Russian tradition -- exemplified by his fine translations of Mandelstam, and by his long poem, 'Czargrad', the latter a glimpse of Byzantium under its Russian name.