Reviews (2)

An informative wealth of writings from notable scholars
Robert Thurston and Bernd Bonwetsch ably collaborate to edit The People's War: Responses To World War II In The Soviet Union, an informative wealth of writings drawn from notable scholars and historians on how ordinary soviet citizens responded to the experiences, horrors, and deprivations of war, including Stalinist leadership and the Nazi invasion of the motherland. The contributors draw upon a wealth of archival and recently published material, much of which was not previously available until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Here detailed is the calculated destruction of a Jewish town by the Germans, an chilling picture of life in occupied Minsk, cultural developments, women's roles in combat, the morale of ordinary Red Army troops, and more. A balanced, comprehensive picture of civilian life behind the front lines, candid descriptions of command structure and the repressive power of the soviet state, and the reaction, cooperation, and opposition to them by the soviet people, all provide a wide ranging, complex, and revealing historical portrait not previously possible and highly recommended for students of Soviet studies, World War II history, and the endurance of the human spirit under even the most difficult of circumstances.

..how Red Army beat Nazis,& what terrible cost-Victory
Thurston is history professor at Miami U.,Ohio,his books include: "life & terror in Stalin's Russia".(1996)..which might be considered subtitle for this well documented book. Of 5.74 million Soviet POW's, an estimed 60% died in prisons by end 1941. Stalin refused aid to all POWs held..even his own son. Contributors include German & Russian top scholars. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    2. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. History: World    6. Military - World War II    7. Soviet Union    8. World War II    9. World War, 1939-1945    10. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    11. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    12. Second World War, 1939-1945    13. World history: Second World War   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. Economics - Macroeconomics    3. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    4. History - General History    5. Political Ideologies - Democracy    6. Political Science    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Bulgaria    9. History / Europe / Eastern    10. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT   

Subjects:  1. Ethnicity    2. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. Former Soviet republics    5. General    6. Historiography    7. Language policy    8. Nationalism    9. Political Science    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Post-Communism    13. Eastern Europe    14. Nationalism--Former Soviet republics    15. Political Science / General    16. Political structures: democracy   

Subjects:  1. Azerbaijan    2. Dictionaries    3. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    4. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    5. Former Soviet Republics - History - Post Cold War (1991-)    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Reference    10. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    11. Reference works    12. Social Science / Reference   

Editorial Review

If Michael Lewis (Read more

Reviews (28)

Exciting, But Not Terribly Informative
As someone who has been involved in Russian legal matters for the past ten years, I found this book quite interesting, if not always accurate.It is not so much that it is inaccurate with respect to what it reports, it is that it so much sensationalizes Russian business that it ignores the great multitudes of Russian businesses that are out there slogging it out just like most businesses in the West.So while I greatly enjoyed the book from a mostly prurient perspective, I did not find it terribly helpful in improving my knowledge of Russian business.

the best of all possible worlds?
This book is like the story of Candide! Except in this tale Candide remains completely ignorant of all the evidence that this is not the best of all possible worlds. I'am not even going to spend my precious time writing a decent-sized review of this debacle of a book; it's bad enough that I've read the book. If you're looking for a realistic outlook on Eastern European post 1991 condition - look elsewhere.

The Robber Barons of Moscow
Matthew Brzezinski, former reporter in the Moscow bureau of The Wall Street Journal (and nephew of Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter's anti-Soviet National Security Advisor) writes about his time in Moscow after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when a gambling mentality took over from the collapsed aspirations of Russia's 70 year experiment with Communism.
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Subjects:  1. 1991-    2. Anthropology - Cultural    3. Business & Economics    4. Business / Economics / Finance    5. Business/Economics    6. Capitalism    7. Contemporary Economic Situations And Conditions    8. Development - Economic Development    9. Economic Conditions    10. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    11. Former Soviet Republics - History - Post Cold War (1991-)    12. Political corruption    13. Post-communism    14. Russia (Federation)    15. Social conditions    16. Business & Economics / General    17. Capitalist or free market economies    18. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    19. Russia   

Reviews (3)

The terrors of the KGB and much more!
This book is an excellent expose of the terrors and tortures of the Russian KGB.One marvels at their tenacity, brutality, and animal-like ruthlessness in hunting down their prey.Prey that included innocent and harmless religious groups, student groups, and just about anyone who disagreed with the Communist Ideology.America could learn much from the terrible living history of Russia.Americans have adopted similar tactics in dealing with those who disagree with the politically correct movements of our day.These are scary times we live in, and Russia should be a lesson to us all.

passionate albeit muddled
The State Within a State is an extremeley interesting book with a credible thesis (the KGB never really went away). I have problems with the author's obvious hatred of the Russian Revolution and Stalin and the way she claimsthere is an unbroken chain of horror going all the way back to 1917.Obviously things are better today- hence her book! She says 66.7 millionpeople died under "Chekist" rule since the Russian Revolution-andthen cites the Guiness Book of Records as her source!? No one could everprove such a figure, I think its one of things thats repeated 'til itbecomes fact. I also find the author's lack of knowledge about our own CIAkind of disheartening. This fine organization has spreadas much death andterror in the Third World (Indonesia, Guatemala,Chile, Argentina, Braziletc. etc. ) as the KGB ever did anywhere, yet she seems to make them out tobe benevolent compared to the KGB (which if you read this book areresponsible for everything wrong with the world today). After reading thisbook I still don't understand why she thinks the KGB or its incarnationsare as bad today as they were at the height of the Terror in 1937. Its notreally explained in the book. I still am not convinced that the KGB was theNKVD, and definitely convinced that either was the SS. Research I have donecasually has never come up with hard, convincing figures for a Nazi stylegenocide in the USSR, and this anecdotal, unconvincing book didn't changemy historical views.

An intrepid critique of the KGB
Reviewed by NIGEL CLIVE in International Relations, Volume XIII, No 2, August 1996 -Read more

Subjects:  1. 1985-1991    2. Former Soviet Republics - History - Post Cold War (1991-)    3. History    4. History - General History    5. Intelligence Operations    6. Komitet gosudarstvennoæi bezopasnosti    7. Ministerstvo bezopasnosti    8. Politics and government    9. Russia (Federation).    10. Russia (pre & post Soviet Union)    11. Sociology    12. Soviet Union    13. Soviet Union.   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. History / Former Soviet Republics   

Reviews (1)

Fascinating but puzzling read
This story about a journalist who meets with a family that has lived for 50 years all alone in a tiny primitive shack in the Siberian wilderness is fascinating. It appeals to our human fascination with "lostpeople" or people who have shut themselves away from the world. Thedescriptions of the family and their lives is an astonishing read. Thereader comes off still verypuzzled, however, at why they did that.Understandably, even the author did not find the true answer, but after ourfascination with the situation is over, we have more questions than areanswered. When three of the five family members suddenly die within a monthof each other there is little explanation and it takes up only a page ofstory. I recommend this book, but I should warn that after the story isover, you will have many unanswered questions. The book does not give thoseof us untutored in Russian history sufficient explanation of the facts ofpeople like this family. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Vasilii)    2. Abakan River Valley    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Former Soviet Republics    7. General    8. Hermits    9. Lykov family    10. Old Believers    11. Peskov, V    12. Russia (Federation)    13. Russia (pre & post Soviet Union)    14. Russia - History    15. Travel    16. Journeys    17. Non-Classifiable   

Editorial Review

For two years, Eleanor Randolph, a former Moscow correspondent for the Read more

Reviews (4)

Excellent - A window into the chaos of the "new" Russia
I happened to be going through books at work when I came upon this particular one; I'm a self-professed "Russia-freak", so it seemed the type of thing that would be just up my alley. A readable book, but not a keeper
Randolph talks about various aspects of life in Russia just after the fall of Communism, from topics such as the status of women, healthcare, sex, ballet and the fine arts, and criminal justice.In doing so, she tells the stories of a number of people, some sad and some encouraging, that she met while in Russia in 1992.
Fascinating but very long
I listened to the book on tape, the narration was excellent. What I particularly liked was that this book was about ordinary life in Russia, rather than the political situation. Lots of bleak description on all sorts of aspects of Russian life during the years following the fall of the Soviet Union.Fascinating, very long, and rather depressing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Civilization    2. Eastern Europe - General    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. Former Soviet Republics - History - Post Cold War (1991-)    5. General    6. Politics - Current Events    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Post-communism    10. Russia (Federation)    11. Social life and customs    12. Current Events / General    13. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    14. Journeys    15. Places & peoples: general interest    16. Randolph, Eleanor    17. Russia   

Reviews (4)

Easy read of a canned history of Siberia
I bought this book for a couple of bucks in a used bookstore and read it on a plane. Bobrick's writing is clear and easy to read. He provides what I see as a standard history of the Russian conquest, and Soviet re-conquest, of Siberia. There are no footnotes or even a bibliography, so I can't figure out why he claims some things that I found questionable. I don't think he 'got it wrong', but it seems like the book is mostl cribbed from other English-language works and maybe a couple of the standard Russian-language histories. The Land of Sables and Gulags
Siberia evokes a host of mental images for any Westerner, most of them negative.Bobrick goes completely beyond the superficial "Gulag" images to reveal a vast and romantic land.He masterfully tells the story of how Russian pioneers battled the Khan tribes to conquer this weird country, river by river, valley by valley.Disasters abounded - particularly the near-extermination of the sable - but Siberia also gave us epic stories of exploration, culminating in the journeys of the great Danish explorer, Bering.Bobrick is as adept at telling their story as he is the stories of the settlers, many of them exiles or convicts, and their new life.There are also chapters devoted to "Russian America," i.e. Alaska, and other Pacific escapades such as the San Francisco base.We learn of border clashes with the Chinese over the Amur, and, later, the Russo-Japanese War, in which the Trans-Siberian railway played a pivotal role.Finally, Bobrick reveals in unflinching detail the Gulag system.This book is pure adventure and is surely deserves to be reissued.

Siberian epic
A pity that this book is out of print.A very intersting survey of the conquest of Siberia.Chilly and chilling even in its writing.No real glorious epic here although lots of gumption and bravery tales of the daring folks that settled Siberia.Just a tale of woe, but a woe that built a nation.Also a few questions about the mentality of a people still little known who forged itself in such hardship and near animalistic conditions.A must read to understand the influence of Siberia in today's Russia.One objection, many editing errors that cost it a star. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Russia - History    6. Siberia (Russia)   

Subjects:  1. 18th century    2. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. History    5. History: World    6. Infectious Diseases    7. Medical / Nursing    8. Plague    9. Russia    10. Epidemiology & medical statistics    11. European history: c 1500 to c 1750    12. History / Former Soviet Republics    13. History of medicine    14. History, World | Russia & Former Soviet Union    15. Infectious & contagious diseases    16. Social history   

Subjects:  1. Bering, Vitus Jonassen   

Subjects:  1. Contemporary Politics - Eastern Europe    2. Eastern Europe - General    3. Eastern Europe - History    4. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    5. Europe - General    6. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Central Europe    11. Eastern Europe    12. European studies    13. Russia   

Reviews (2)

Moshe Gammer: Muslim Resistance to the Tsar
This book is a splendid analysis of the Russian conquest of Chechnya and Daghestan between the late 1820s and early 1850s. Its central theme is the collision between imperial Russia and the Muslim peoples of the Caucasus.Gammer traces the origins of the 'Islamic revival' that occurred in the Caucasus in the second quarter of the nineteenth century and shows how, under the leadership of Imam Shamil, that revival assumed a military dimension that challenged Russia's presence in the region.Gammer insists that Shamil and his followers were by no means the 'fanatics' or 'terrorists' imagined by the Russians.He argues that Shamil was a genuine believer in God and in Islamic law; that Shamil first sought accommodation with the Russians but soon became aware that the Russians were only interested in establishing imperial hegemony in the region; that Shamil was a shrewd politician who very nearly succeeded in unifying the ethnically diverse peoples of Chechnya and Daghestan under a common Islamic banner. The book is based on profound scholarship, but it is written in a lively narrative style.The text is accompanied by helpful maps and suggestive illustrations. Although Gammer's book focuses on the nineteenth century, its subject is timely in light of the two recent wars between post-Soviet Russia and the Chechens who, since Shamil's rebellion, may never have accepted Russian rule.

Comprehensive, Lucid, Riveting
An indepth look at an Amazing personality and the conditions surrounding his times. Moshe Gammer has done justice to his subject matter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. History - General History    3. Political Science    4. Politics/International Relations    5. Asian / Middle Eastern history    6. Central Asia    7. Eastern Europe    8. History / Former Soviet Republics    9. Political activism   

Subjects:  1. Archival Materials (Library Science)    2. Archival materials    3. Archival resources    4. Eastern Europe - General    5. Former Soviet Republics - History - Post Cold War (1991-)    6. History - General History    7. Language Arts & Disciplines    8. Library & Information Science    9. Sociology    10. Ukraine    11. Libraries & information centres    12. Non-book materials in libraries & archives    13. Social Science / Ethnic Studies    14. World history: from c 1900 -   

Subjects:  1. Bohemia    2. Bohemia (Czech Republic)    3. Church history    4. Czech Republic    5. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    6. History    7. History: World    8. Hussite Wars, 1419-1436    9. Hussites    10. Sources    11. Europe    12. European history: c 500 to c 1500    13. History of religion    14. Holy war    15. c 1000 CE to c 1500   

Subjects:  1. 1991-    2. Contemporary Politics - Former Soviet Republics    3. Elections    4. Elections And Voting    5. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    6. Political    7. Political Ideologies - Democracy    8. Political Process - Elections    9. Political Science    10. Politics - Current Events    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Politics and government    13. Politics/International Relations    14. Ukraine    15. Political Science / Elections   

Subjects:  1. Ancient - General    2. Eastern Europe - General    3. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    4. History    5. History: World   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (7)

Redgate Only Partially Open
While the book has been written by a professional, I have a feeling that it has been written somewhat hastily, and the topics covered have been arbitrarily chosen. It is frequently hard to trace the underlying logic of the arguments or to come up with specific conclusions intended. One almost gets an impression of the author claiming something like, "If we make this and this assumption, we would arrive to this and this conclusion, if we make the other assumption, we would arrive to the other conclusion. We can arrive to any conclusion, thus the subject should not be seriously studied." This characterization is especially transparent in the case of the topic of the "Origin of Armenians." It looks as if "I have been asked to write about it and I have done it. I can spend my time on better things, however." not recommended as an introduction
this book left me with quite a muddled picture of the armenians. Early Armenians
Despite the weaknesses--some fair, some very unfair--pointed at by the other reviewers, this book is the best work published in English on Armenia and the Armenians from their early origins to the Turkish invasion in the eleventh century. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    3. Europe - General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Middle East - General    8. ARMENIAN AMERICANS    9. Armenia    10. Cultural studies    11. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    12. Indigenous peoples    13. Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural    14. World history   

Subjects:  1. Congresses    2. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    3. Ethnic conflict    4. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    5. Europe, Eastern    6. Former Soviet republics    7. History & Theory - General    8. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    9. Political Process - General    10. Political Science    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Politics/International Relations    13. Post-Communism    14. Ethnography    15. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    16. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT