Subjects:  1. Arts    2. Berlin, Isaiah,    3. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    4. History & Theory - General    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Intellectual life    8. Political Science    9. Political aspects    10. Sir    11. Soviet Union    12. Travel    13. Cultural studies    14. Russia   

Subjects:  1. Collectivization of agricultur    2. Collectivization of agriculture    3. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Peasantry    8. Sources    9. Soviet Union    10. Agriculture & related industries    11. European history: from c 1900 -    12. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    13. History / General    14. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    15. Political science & theory   

Subjects:  1. 1991-    2. Asia - Japan    3. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    4. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    5. Georgia (Republic)    6. Goltz, Thomas    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Military - Other    11. Post-communism    12. Travel    13. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    14. Georgia   

Reviews (3)

An introduction to Ukraine & the Orange Revolution
'Ukraine's Orange Revolution' was one of the first books written on the much publicized events of late 2004. Wilson does a wonderful job providing a brief history of Ukraine as well as setting the context for the inspiring events.
Taking the first steps toward true democracy
You'll be lucky if you can keep all the names straight, and the author provides plenty of them, but it's a good look behind the scenes of a modern, peaceful revolution. It can be a bit dry at times and the author's writing style and word usage sometimes left me curious as to exactly what he meant but push through it and you'll finish the book with a reasonable understanding of the challenges faced and overcome by people who wanted a new, responsive government. They've still got a lot of work ahead of them but let's hope they succeed.

Orange Revolution
Excellent analysis, must read to see the chaos that is now democracy in Ukraine ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Political History    6. Demonstrations & protest movements    7. European history: from c 1900 -    8. History / General    9. Ukraine   

Reviews (1)

Superb!The Iron Lady's Ambassador to Moscow.
This was a wonderful book!Fresh, fast-paced, fascinating and immensely funny.The author was Maggie Thatcher's man in Moscow, he has an intimate knowledge of the Russian people and a great deal of experience in-country.His English humor (humour?) makes this book not just a chronicle of events, but a real gem.Examples...when visiting Kiev, he is invited to visit the musuem of UFO's which includes an exhibit of foot long iron bar munching rats from outer space, Ambasador Braithwaite dryly commentsthat although he would love to attend, he just can't seem to fit it into his schedule.When Moscow Radio plays excerpts from Pushkin in the throes of the 1991 aborted coup, he comments--who else but the Russians would air poetry at such a time?About half the length of Jack Matlock's epic "Anatomy on an Empire", (his colleague and apparent twin in the minds of the Russian people)Braithwaite's book is more accesible, and given in a lively style.While I do not agree 100% with all of his analysis, I do find this a supberb book and a must have for anyone who wants a Westerner's guide to understanding Russia. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1991-    2. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    3. Former Soviet Republics - History - Post Cold War (1991-)    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Politics and government    8. Post-communism    9. Russia (Federation)    10. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    11. History / Russia (pre- & post-Soviet Union)    12. Political activism    13. Russia    14. c 1980 to c 1990    15. c 1990 to c 2000   

Reviews (2)

More polemic than history
Price-Jones seems less interested in telling the history of the demise of the USSR than he is in attacking the left. He spends the first chunk of the book talking about how evil communism was, which is not debatable. However, Price-Jones' target is not the Soviets; it's Western liberals who did not share his views on confrontation with them. The author attacks those who tried to promote coexistence as unwitting stooges or active collaborators with the Soviet regime. That's not the kind of book I expected from the title. I kept reading, waiting for the history to start, but I gave up after more than 80 pages of Price-Jones' ranting.

The inside story of the end of history
Without sentiment or any sense of loss, David Pryce-Jones chronicles the fall of European communism through a journalist's eye and the eyewitness accounts of the rulers, dissidents and apparatchiks who were there.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1985-1991    2. Contemporary Politics - Former Soviet Republics    3. Former Soviet Republics - History - Post Cold War (1991-)    4. General    5. History    6. History: World    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Russia (pre & post Soviet Union)    9. Soviet Union   

Subjects:  1. Caricatures and cartoons    2. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    8. Politicians    9. Russia & Former Soviet Union    10. Soviet Union    11. Subjects & Themes - General    12. Vsesoëiìuznaëiìa kommunisticheskaëiìa partiëiìa (bol§shevikov)    13. Drawing & drawings    14. European history: First World War    15. European history: Second World War    16. History / General    17. Russia   

Editorial Review

Paul Klebnikov tells the incredible story of Boris Berezovsky, a one-time Russian car dealer who assembled a huge--and illicit--fortune after the collapse of Communism. "This individual had risen out of nowhere to become the richest businessman in Russia and one of the most powerful individuals in the country," writes Klebnikov, a respected reporter for Read more

Reviews (49)

Telling The Truth Will Get You Murdered!
I am halfway through this incredible book and it deeply disturbs me that American Paul Klebnikov died because of this book and other articles he wrote while working in Russia for Forbes Magazine.Of late, all one reads is how someone incredibly powerful managed to get off the hook in one way or another.I am just weary of all the lies in the press and the deceitful 'spin' that the US media gives to people they find useful.No, we don't kill our reporters, but we ruin them in other ways.I hope I live long enough to see this change, but I fear it won't happen in my lifetime.I have learned from personal experiences in my life that 99 percent of what I have read and believed to be true was a lie.It starts with Santa Claus and moves on from there.This book has made me want to read more about Russia, the people, and the various governments.How sad I spent half of my life living in fear of the Russians, and they us.I tried to find 'Conversations With A Barbarian', also by Mr. Klebnikov, but it is no longer available.I feel so awful for his family and friends.

Superb explanation of what went wrong in Russia in the 1990s
I followed the extraordinary events happening in Russia during the 1990s, reading articles, newspaper stories, a couple of books. But I had no idea what really happened until I read this book. Most of the journalists followed the politics. Paul Klebnikov followed the money. And the money was incredible. In a few years, Boris Berezovsky, who never created a productive corporation, never innovated some product, who never added any value to the wealth of his country, accumulated several billion dollars. This came from the hides of the people of Russia many of whom, the old, the unemployed, children, actually starved during the 1990s. This was the looting of Russia to the benefit of a few thousand people. How it was made possible is in this extraordinary book. Since the book is so well researched, documented and footnoted, I have the feeling that some of the one-star reviews have a hidden agenda to discredit the book. After all Berezovsky is now sitting in England on his 15 million-dollar estate and has been told not to meddle in Russian politics or he'll be kicked out. Russia would love to get him back to go over what he did to Aeroflot, what he knows about several murders of people who opposed his takeovers, and a lot more. Not that the book is perfect. For some reason Klebnikov does not mention the role of foreign economists in Russia's economic disaster of the 1990s. The Russians tried to get the best economic advice they could on their transition from communism to capitalismand turned to such people as Jeffrey Sachs, then of Harvard University, who pushed "shock therapy." It produced plenty of shock but no therapy. Tragically, Gorbachov, earlier, did not have the guts to go with a transition plan developed by Grigory Yavlinski, which was much superior. What the wunderkind economists recommended was to kick away the crutches from the patient before he could walk. It's a sad story, and as many people know Klebnikov was murdered in Moscow two years ago and no one has been convicted of the crime. This is a brave book by a brave journalist and a must read for anyone who wants to understand what happened.
A must read!
This is one of the most interesting books I've ever read. I don't know where to start the review, because it's unlike anything else I've ever read, if only from the point of view of the exploits of Berezovsky, his friends, and other "capitalists" who proceeded to rob Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union.
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Subjects:  1. (Boris Abramovich),    2. 1946-    3. Berezovskii, B. A    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Business    7. Businessmen    8. Capitalists and financiers    9. Criminology    10. Current Affairs    11. Ethnic Cultures - General    12. Former Soviet Republics - History - Post Cold War (1991-)    13. Organized Crime    14. Political    15. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    16. Politics/International Relations    17. Russia (Federation)    18. Biography & Autobiography / Business    19. Biography: general    20. Russia   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    2. Europe - General    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. European history: from c 1900 -    8. History / Europe / General    9. Ukraine   

Subjects:  1. Armenia    2. Armenian literature    3. Armenians    4. Dictionaries    5. Eastern Europe - General    6. Foreign countries    7. Former Soviet Republics - History - Post Cold War (1991-)    8. History    9. History - General History    10. History: World    11. Middle East - General    12. Reference    13. Education / General    14. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    15. Reference works   

Subjects:  1. 1991-    2. Former Soviet Republics - History - Post Cold War (1991-)    3. History: American    4. Politics and government    5. Post-communism    6. Public Opinion    7. Russia (Federation)   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Language and culture    7. Languages in contact    8. Linguistics    9. Sociolinguistics    10. Ukraine    11. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    12. Social & cultural anthropology   

Reviews (1)

A little self congratulatory but still interesting
The autobiography of Marie, Queen of Romania, is well written, but somewhat florid and self congratulatory in its attempts to describe her feelings about events, particularly her appointment as the "face of Romania" at the Paris talks that brought the end of world war one in 1919.Her style is best when she is most lacking in self consciousness.Her estimates of the various players at the peace conference are penetrating and probably correct.Certainly her description of the war torn countryside of Europe through which she passed are graphic and emotionally moving visions.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    5. Royalty    6. Women    7. Biography & Autobiography / Royalty    8. Biography: general    9. European history: from c 1900 -    10. Other prose: from c 1900 -    11. Romania   

Reviews (3)

Not for Casual Reading; But a Great piece of Scholarship
You should know that having been selected a Slavic Studies award it was not going to be all plot and laughs.Though if you read it with the right mindset, some of it looks like it was made-up by Myron Cohen.Probably the most interesting part of the scholarship brought up by Nathans was that once Russian Jews were allowed into law schools, they turned out to be recognized as the most expert in the law.
Book Prize Winner
Beyond the Pale: The Jewish Encounter with Late Imperial Russia won the 2003 Wayne S. Vucinich book prize awarded annually by the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS) for the most outstanding monograph in Russian, Eurasian, or East European studies in any discipline of the humanities.
Excellent work
This is a fascinating study of the Jews in Russia. The book description is accurate... it is a highly detailed and first rate work of scholarship. The only concern is that it is not casual reading-- it is an in-depth and comprehensive study that rewards the devoted reader. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    2. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Judaism - General    7. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    8. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    9. History / General    10. Jewish studies   

Reviews (2)

TEXTBOOK
THIS BOOK WAS RECOMMENDED BY AMAZON. I THINK THIS WAS BECAUSE I BOUGHT SEVERAL BOOKS ON ALASKAN WILDERNESS AND NATIVES. I THOUGHT THIS BOOK WOULD BE AN INTERESTING NATIVE CONTINUUM.
A glimpse of life in a Russian Arctic village
Anna Kerttula was the first American anthropologist to conduct long-term fieldwork in Chukotka, which is located in eastern Russia just across the Bering Strait from Alaska. She comes from a background that gives her a unique and very valuable perspective on Chukotka: she was raised in a rural Alaskan family, and visited many Alaskan Inuit and Yup'ik villages as a child. All that time, she was acutely aware of the presence of Chukotka and its Native villages just out of reach beyond what was dubbed the "ice curtain" between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. She dreamed of going there, and was finally able to do so as a graduate student in anthropology. In the Soviet period, because Chukotka was so close to the United States, it was a carefully-guarded closed region -- even Russians had to have special permission to travel there. Kerttula began her fieldwork in the village of Sireniki on Chukotka's coast in 1989, two years before the collapse of the Soviet Union, so she had the rare opportunity to experience life there before the drastic changes that came in the 1990s. She describes for us many different aspects of the lives of the Yup'iks, Chukchis, and Russian "Newcomers" who live in this village -- their occupations of reindeer herding and sea mammal hunting for the Soviet collective farm in the village; their ideas about social relationships, marriage and family, etc.; the symbolic importance of the tundra and the sea. It is a fascinating glimpse of daily life on the eve of the Soviet Union's demise. This is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in the Russian Arctic (a.k.a. Siberia)-- it is well-written, accessible, and full of fascintating profiles of the inhabitants of this small village. Lots of good black and white photos, too. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Archaeology / Anthropology    3. Chukchi    4. Chukotskii avtonomnyi okrug    5. Chukotskiæi avtonomnyæi okrug    6. Ethnology    7. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    8. General    9. Russia (Federation)    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Yupik Eskimos    13. Indigenous peoples    14. Russia    15. Social & cultural anthropology    16. Social groups & communities   

Reviews (1)

Visions of a Russian Mississippi
This is a masterful book that combines intellectual history and geography in a way that has not been done before, shining a new light on the issues of Russian identity and the interrelationship between exploration, conquest and nationalism.Read more

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. Amur River Region (China and R    3. Amur River Region (China and Russia)    4. Earth Sciences - Geography    5. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    6. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    7. Geography (Specific Aspects)    8. Historical Geography    9. History    10. History - General History    11. History: World    12. Russia - History    13. Amur River Region (China and Russia)--History--19th century    14. Asian / Middle Eastern history    15. East Asia, Far East    16. Russia    17. Science / Geography    18. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Communism    4. Eastern Europe - History    5. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    6. History - General History    7. Political    8. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    9. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    10. History / Former Soviet Republics    11. Hungary   

Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula - History    2. Contemporary Politics - Eastern Europe    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. Europe - Baltic States    5. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    6. History & Theory - General    7. History - General History    8. International Relations - General    9. Political Science    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Post-Communism    12. History / Former Soviet Republics    13. International relations    14. Southeast Europe    15. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Reviews (1)

Burden of Dreams
"Burden of Dreams" brings the human element in the midst of historical events. The author shows how the fundamental changes in Ukraine has and is effecting the lives of its people, something that cannot beforgotten in any study of this kind. Too often an author focuses on oneelement, such as politics or economics, and forgets that these changeseffect far more than national policies. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1991-    2. Anthropology - Cultural    3. Archaeology / Anthropology    4. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    5. History    6. History: World    7. Nationalism    8. Political History    9. Russification    10. Ukraine    11. Anthropology    12. Central government    13. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -   

Reviews (20)

It really is a masterpiece!
Very good. Highly recommend to everyone who wants to know the truth. John Erickson is a true historian. Bravo!

Colossal conflict
The Road to Stalingrad:
Is Pravda bankrolling this stupid book from a dmented paranoid?
Consulting, writing and lifting from suspect Soviet sources, Erickson has authored, like the latter day Glantz, a mostly forgettable tract on the defeats and triumps of the Red hordes in the so called Great Patriotic War, while forgetting to mention conveniently the fact that the Red Army, despite enormous numerical superiority, sustained a lot more casaulties with its mechanized and motorized hordes against a horse drawn German Heer, which was fighting on all fronts while the domestic economy and armaments industry laid in ruins.
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Subjects:  1. Campaigns    2. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    3. Europe - Germany    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. History: World    7. Military - World War II    8. Military History - World War II    9. Soviet Union    10. World War, 1939-1945    11. European history: Second World War    12. Germany    13. History / Germany    14. Russia    15. Second World War, 1939-1945    16. War & defence operations