Reviews (1)

Pearl Harbor, part II
I found the book fascinating and probably the most interesting book I've read in a long time...maybe ever.
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Subjects:  1. Conspiracy & Scandal Investigations    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. Intelligence Agencies    5. K-129 (Submarine)    6. Military    7. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    8. Military - Naval    9. Military - Nuclear Warfare    10. Modern - 20th Century    11. Soviet Union    12. Soviet Union.    13. Submarine disasters    14. Submarine forces    15. Submarines    16. Voenno-Morskoæi Flot    17. History / Military / Naval   

Reviews (17)

Classic! It flows like a novel.
Although this book is several years old and does't include information from the soviet archives which came to light in the 90s, it remains a classic of World War literature due to its excellent narrative and the objective analysis. Carell not only describes the battles after Kursk, but also presents the hidden facts behind the great German defeats and how the fieldmarshals and generals of the Wehrmacht were continiously deceived by the Red Army planners and fell in their traps with disastrous consequences. The book is marvellous, but I think the best part of it is that of the Belorussian Offensive in the summer of 1944, where Carell makes a real anatomy of bad intelligence and German misconceptions. There is also information concerning the crucial role of the Soviet spy netwroks, particularly the invaluable help that Lucy network provided to Moscow.

Biased
According to Raul Hilberg, Paul Carell is the pseudonym for Paul Karl Schmidt, National Socialist Foreign Office Press Chief during the Third Reich

An Oldie but Goodie!
The eastern Front from the German view. In this book, Carell discusses the overall German response to a much larger and better equiped Soviet Army. A great read! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History - Military / War    2. History: World    3. Military - World War II    4. Military History - World War II    5. European history: Second World War    6. Germany    7. Russia    8. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Subjects:  1. 1981-1989    2. 20th century    3. Communism    4. Foreign relations    5. General    6. Government - U.S. Government    7. History    8. History - U.S.    9. Military - Nuclear Warfare    10. Political Science    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Politics/International Relations    13. Presidents & Heads of State    14. Soviet Union    15. United States    16. United States - 20th Century    17. Political Science / General   

Subjects:  1. 1919-1963    2. Biography    3. Contemporary Politics - Europe    4. Espionage    5. Espionage, British    6. Espionage, Soviet    7. General    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Intelligence Agencies    11. Penkovskii, OlegVladimirov    12. Soviet Union    13. Spies    14. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    15. Espionage & secret services    16. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    17. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    18. Pen§kovskii, OlegVladimirovich    19. USA    20. c 1960 to c 1970    21. c 1970 to c 1980    22. c 1980 to c 1990   

Reviews (12)

The ABC's of Revolution
The life of Leon Trotsky is intimately entwined with the rise and decline of the Russian Revolution in the first part of the 20th century. As a young man, like an extraordinary number of talented Russian youth he entered the revolutionary struggle against Czarism in the late 1890's. Shortly thereafter he embraced what became a lifelong devotion to a Marxist political perspective. However, except for the period of the 1905 Revolution when Trotsky was chairman of the Petrograd Soviet and later in 1912 when he tried to unite all the Russian Social Democratic forces in an ill-fated unity conference, which goes down in history as the `August Bloc', he was essentially a free lancer in the international socialist movement. At that time Trotsky saw the Bolsheviks as `sectarians' as it was not clear to him that for socialist revolution to be successful the reformist and revolutionary wings of the movement had to be split. With the coming of World War I Trotsky drew closer to Bolshevik positions but did not actually join the party until the summer of 1917 when he entered the Central Committee after the fusion of his organization, the Inter-District Organization, and the Bolsheviks. This represented an important and decisive switch in his understanding of the necessity of a revolutionary party.
One of the best books ever written about revolution
In spite of its length, I've read this book several times. It isn't just a widely acclaimed historic and literary masterpiece, written by a leading participant in the events he describes. It isn't just vividly written and thoroughly researched.
How to overthrow the profit system
This is one of the most exciting books I've ever read.It tells the amazing story of the Russian revolution of 1917, from the overthrow of the Czar to the Bolshevik Revolution of October.What makes it an incredible read is that the author, Leon Trotsky, was at the middle of it all, as one of the central planners of the insurrection that took power. Trotsky was a great revolutionary and great writer. But one thing I especially like about the book is that Trotsky uses excerpts from many other accounts, including those who hated him with a passion, to tell the story accurately.It is an inspiring story, especially for new generations of young people, workers and farmers who need to learn about an example showing that the dog-eat-dog system of capitalism we live in can be overthrown.For the definitive account of how this great revolution was later derailed, see Trotsky's Revolution Betrayed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Revolution, 1917-1921    7. Soviet Union    8. European history: from c 1900 -    9. First World War, 1914-1918    10. Marxism & Communism    11. Revolutions & coups    12. Russia   

Reviews (3)

Clear and precise 'defining'
Taruskin's name is associated by the experienced reader of Russian music books with texts of in-depth treatment, rigorous demands of his texts for clarity and entertaining style for the non-scholar reader.DefiningRussian Music offers through a series of essays a description very accurateof what Russian music is from the beginning of the formation of a Russianmusical identity to the Soviet period and, what I think is more important,why it shows these characteristics.A passage I found very interestingexplains the origin of a Pushkin's poem and compares settings of it bythree composers from different periods. A non rough-reading text, fullyillustrated with musical examples, this book is a must-have for people whoappreciate Russian composers and their work as all Taruskin's books up tonow.

Clear and precise 'defining'
Taruskin's name is associated by the experienced reader of Russian music books with texts of in-depth treatment (I bet nobody could research more exhaustively on Stravinsky), rigorous demands of his texts for clarity andentertaining style for the non-scholar reader.Defining Russian Musicoffers through a series of essays a description very accurate of whatRussian music is from the beginning of the formation of a Russian musicalidentity to the Soviet period and, what I think is more important, why itshows these characteristics.A passage I found very interesting explainsthe origin of a Pushkin's poem and compares settings of it by threecomposers from different periods. A non rough-reading text, fullyillustrated with musical examples, this book is a must-have for people whoappreciate Russian composers and their work as all Taruskin's books up tonow.

Always something for thought and contemplation here
Musical scholarship today is like a dialogue within itself as well as informing the larger populace, sometimes you don't know which comes first. But here Taruskin must draw battle lines in the sand so to stake aclaim,like the one against his benign enemy Peter van den Toorn. Taruskinis this side of the scholarship that shuns the guild system of note to notemusical analysis the kind the Schenkerian ideologies have spawned inacademia today. This is why his insights are so fascinating. It isincredible to think of all the Russians you hear at primary concert venuesthroughout the United Statesit seems we have had virtually nothing toguide our listening habitsThe music of Shostakovich is a greatexample,what we have had to guide our listening is his music was a veiledcritique of the tyrannical Stalinist system that brutalized and pulverizedculture,no one disagrees here. But one important question we never seem tohave answered including Taruskin here, was Shostakovich a socialist,whatdid he actually think of the economic systems of the West?. Taruskin in twobrilliant essays one on Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth" andthe other on the "Fifth Symphony" we have insights we have heardbefore, again Shostakovich the culture hero victim.. We also learn ofStravinsky's reactionary cast. I really didn't know he was an anti-Semite.Well you might say how does this effect his composition?. Well Taruskinmakes a good argument for Stravinsky's treatments of subject matter, as inthe obvious anti-social dimensions in the "Rite of Spring" wherethe virgin is sacrificed as an inevitability, no resortment to struggle, aconcept anathema to Stravinsky. What this kind of social scholarshipunleashes is at the very heart of the music's value It is easy to see nowStravinsky's brutalization of sound,not only in the obvious choice of the"Rite of Spring" but Stravinsky's taming his voices subjectingthem to a passivity,to a one-dimensional function, as part of a texture,Andwhere has Stravinsky found his voice when there is one?, inborrowings,particulary Russian folk. These four last hermeneutical essaysare for me the high point of this volume. Also Scriabin and Tchaikovskycomplete it. I never understood any scholarship for Tchaikovsky, what'sthere to discuss,his relations with the Tsar's aristocracy? Except thatTaruskin works at another level of contemplation,in saying things as thismusic has an immediacy that is bornethrough lived experience, it is notpremeditated music, the kind we find in the West with an obsession forglobal order and pitch configurations. You will always find something tothink about(even in Tchaikovsky)t with this kind of social and politicalscholarship which Taruskin espouses. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ethnic    2. History & Criticism - General    3. Music    4. Music/Songbooks    5. European History    6. Hermeneutics    7. History    8. Music / History & Criticism    9. Russia   

Reviews (1)

ROOTS AND FLOWERS
This book is comprised of 12 brief, well-written essays by distinguished researchers, put together by the SUNY Stony Brook professor Nicolas Rzhevsky. The volume is divided into two parts: Cultural Identity and Literature and the Arts. If the first part of the book deals with Russian roots, the second is devoted to the flowers of this civilization.Read more

Subjects:  1. Arts, Russian    2. Civilization    3. Eastern Europe - General    4. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    5. History    6. History: World    7. Russia    8. Russia (Federation)    9. Russian & Former Soviet Union    10. Sociology    11. Anthropology    12. Cultural studies    13. Eastern Europe    14. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    15. Literary Criticism & Collections / Russian & Former Soviet Union    16. Russia--Civilization   

Subjects:  1. 1895-1944    2. Espionage    3. Espionage, Soviet    4. History - Military / War    5. History: American    6. Intelligence Operations    7. Japan    8. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    9. Ozaki, Hotsumi    10. Sorge, Richard,    11. Soviet Union    12. Trials (Espionage)    13. Sorge, Richard   

Reviews (9)

A good overview, but the conclusions conflict with evidence
While I believe that this book is a must-read insofar as gaining an understanding of Khazaria goes, I do not believe, as the author contends, that this population survived in the numbers that he suggests.Most recent Mitochondrial and Y-Chromosome mapping work that has been done on Ashkenazi Jews suggests that the overwhelming majority of the progenitors of this population were middle-eastern in origin.The rest of the genome suggests that an intermarriage and conversion rate that could not have been more than one percent per generation.A mass influx of survivors from the fall of the Khazarian empire just doesn't fit into the genetic picture.
Extremely Interesting
Being turkish myself, I have always found the friendship between jews and turks very warm and interesting (and many of my friends are jewish). I knew the Ottoman Empire accepted 150.000 jews during Sultan Suleyman (Solomon) II in 1492 - when Spain chose to expel them - and that modern Turkey has close military ties with Israel; but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought than an entire Turkish kingdom converted to Judaism and allowed jews from all over the world to settle and build a strong kingdom. What a fascinating and extraordinary positive event!
Excellent
Brook does an excellent job in broaching this topic that many have attempted before him, and I'm sure many will attempt after. Considering how little is known about Khazaria, how much history has been either censored or re-written by the former Soviet Union, and the relatively sparse amount of archaelogical work that has been conducted in the region, Brook brings much information to light, detailing the tribal and linguistic origins of the Khazars. In comparison with Koestler's "The Thirteenth Tribe," Brook's work is more about presenting facts than coming to conclusions.Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Jewish - General    6. Eastern Europe    7. Jewish studies    8. Religion / Judaism / General    9. Khazars    10. Jews    11. Russia    12. Ethnic relations    13. Europe - Eastern    14. Caucasus, Northern   

Reviews (20)

A first rate book on Afghanistan
Kaplan is an American journalist who made several trips into Afghanistan during the time that the Soviet Union had occupied Afghanistan and was intent on turning Afghanistan into a communist country.
zzzzzz...
As a college student, I am required certain books for my history class.The firsthand account books I have read this semester have been very enjoyable (Kaffir Boy & Son of the Revolution).However, even though Soldiers of God is a firsthand account of Robert Kaplan traveling in Afghanistan & Pakistan during the Soviet invasion & occupation, it was one of the most boring books I have ever read.I could barely read 3 pages without beginning to doze off.The action is limited and sporadic and the commentary is less than stellar.If you are looking for another Kaffir Boy this book is not the one to pick.

Very Good
Great book about the Russian-Afghan War and preread to Taliban by Ahmed Rashid.Very good read for anyone wanting to know about Central Asian/Afghan history and Afghan/Pakistani relations of recent years. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Afghanistan    2. American Journalism    3. Biography    4. Current Affairs    5. History    6. International    7. International Relations - General    8. Islam - General    9. Islam - History    10. Journalists    11. Kaplan, Robert D.,    12. Middle East - History    13. Personal narratives    14. Political    15. Politics / Current Events    16. Politics/International Relations    17. Soviet occupation, 1979-1989    18. United States    19. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    20. History / Military / General    21. Journeys    22. Kaplan, Robert D    23. Middle East    24. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    25. Sociology, Social Studies    26. USA    27. Warfare & Defence    28. International relations    29. Current Events   

Reviews (1)

A highly readable account from an expert on the matter.
This "Account on the Collapse of the Soviet Union" may be the best book I have read about the demise of the Soviet Union - I personally prefer it over David Remnick's "Lenin's Tomb," which won the Pulitzer Price. For one thing I think Mr. Matlock is among the men best suited to write about the Soviet Union, since he has experienced it first-hand for over 30 years. Moreover, although he never denies that the book constitutes his personal account, he still manages to seperate the issues discussed from his own person, something that I found Remnick to have trouble with at times. His theories, although not necessarily earth-shattering, are backed up by oodles of evidence, be it data or just anecdotes. The summary and the description of the CIS states and the future of the Commonwealth also provide a glimpse into the future. All you ever wanted to know about the epochal events and influences shaping the former Soviet block today. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1985-1991    2. Contemporary Politics - Former Soviet Republics    3. Foreign relations    4. History: World    5. Politics and government    6. Soviet Union    7. United States    8. Political Science / General   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    2. Feminism    3. History    4. History: World    5. Nihilism    6. Sociology    7. Soviet Union    8. Women    9. Women's Studies - History    10. European History    11. Gender Studies    12. History / Russia (pre- & post-Soviet Union)    13. History-Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    14. Russia   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Colonies    3. Europe - Germany    4. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    5. Germany    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History - Military / War    9. History: World    10. Holocaust    11. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    12. Military - World War II    13. Ukraine    14. World War, 1939-1945    15. ZìHytomyrs§ka oblast§    16. History / Holocaust    17. Second World War, 1939-1945    18. The Holocaust    19. holocaust; Nazism; colonialism; World War II; Hitler; Himmler; empire; imperialism; genocide; Jews; slave labor; Third Reich; Germany; Soviet Union; nationalism; Eastern Europe; occupation; Vinnytsia; Zhytomyr; Berdychiv   

Reviews (63)

Scholarly, lively treatment. . . .
For anyone who wonders why Russia is the mess it is today--notwithstanding the glam and glitz of the many post-Soviet Union robber barons--Anne Applebaum provides instructive clues in her sensational book, "Gulag," which explores one of the most horrendous of all systems in Joseph Stalin's Russia. The "Gulag," where upwards of 30 million largely innocent people were insanely targeted by Stalin and his henchmen as political "conspirators."They were then seized, jailed for little or no reason, and then either executed or forced to live and work under some of the most abominable conditions on record.Indeed, Stalin's Gulag did more to kill social, political, intellectual and even artistic vibrancy than any war ever could.The seeds planted during Stalin's long reign have yielded a latter-day Russia that is steeped in corruption, saddled with a notoriously disfunctional public sector that exposes appalling disparities between the rich and the poor.Unlike many "dry" history books, "Gulag" is immensely readable, thanks to Applebaum's brisk writing style and her profound interest in her subject matter, which is contagious.A masterful narrative with exhaustively detailed footnotes, "Gulag" bears stunning testament to the human cost of totalitarianism.It's a must-have for European history buffs!

Excellent - extensive presentation
I can say I have read about 95% of the books published in English and in French on the gulag and this one is more like an anthology than anything else. It is thorough, clear and understandable by anyone. It will make the reader appreciate his or her life one (or two) step further. We are lucky to live in our protected world and reading this book just helps us enjoy our beautiful life a lot more. Two Thumbs UP!

Where was God?
Its a question you almost find yourself asking when reading this excellent account that has become an instant classic. The story of the system of Soviet concentration camps is a long and ultimately terrifying one. Begun by Lenin, the Gulag expanded until it reached its peak under Joseph Stalin around 1950. It came to enslave and imprison millions of people, and would lead to the deaths of millions as well. The Gulag would eventually disappear, but its legacy lives on its its countless victims. Today it stands a blood-soaked testament to the horror that was communism. "Gulag: A History" won the Pulitzer prize for the author, and quite deservingly so. The book is excellent in all respects, and should be required reading when it comes to 20th century history. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Concentration camps    2. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. Forced labor    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History: World    8. Prisons    9. Soviet Union    10. History / Former Soviet Republics   

Reviews (2)

A little dry, but still impressive
Maybe it is just me, or maybe something is lost in the translation for the exerpts reproduced in this volume, but the reading was a little rougher going than I expected.It is, however, wide-ranging, with voices from some of the lessor-examined communist regimes, and it definitely worth a look if this is your field of interest.

An excellent companion to The Black Book of Communism
But unlike the Black Book, which derives most of its information from recently accessible Soviet archives and other sources, this emotionally charged tome relies on the accounts of victims themselves, which makes it even more damning in my view. This book should convince many that Communism in practice is every bit as murderous as its rival totalitarian ideology Fascism, which is considered the epitome of political evil.
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Subjects:  1. Communist countries    2. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    3. Modern - 20th Century    4. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    5. Political Science    6. Political crimes and offenses    7. Political persecution    8. Political violence    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Reference    12. Sociology    13. Violence in Society    14. Social Science / Reference   

Reviews (92)

Rasputin and Alexandra
In print and widely available for nearly half-a-century now, few works of non-fiction have proven as enduring and captivating as Robert Massie's historical love story about the demise of the Romanov dynasty.
Larger-than-life saga
This is an awsome book.Glittering courts,sparkling jewelerry,formidable millitia-the essentials of the Russian court picturised with the minutest detail.Mr.Massie has put forward a mother's love,a king's worries.the immense love and bonding in this beautiful book

The Romanov "Bible"
"Nicholas and Alexandra" was written by Robert K. Massie several decades ago. However, it has remained one of the best biographies on this doomed couple. It is the book that has gotten hundreds of people interested in the last Tsar and Tsaritsa of Russia. If you are just starting to learn about the Romanovs, this is the book for you. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1801-1917    2. 1868-1918    3. 1872-1918    4. Alexandra,    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Emperor of Russia,    7. Empress, consort of Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia,    8. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    9. Historical - General    10. History    11. History: World    12. II,    13. Nicholas    14. Political    15. Royalty    16. Russia    17. Russia - History    18. Alexandra    19. Biography & Autobiography / Political    20. Biography: royalty    21. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)   

Subjects:  1. History    2. Russia    3. Russian Revolution   

Reviews (3)

Doctor at Stalingrad - A Well Deserved Penance
As an historian and avid reader who purchases dozens of books each year and who researches each purchase beforehand, I rarely have cause to be disappointed in the books I buy. This book, however, was a major exception. I found it less than compelling reading; poorly written, disjointed, confusing and certainly not worth the purchase price.Also, I found that the author's underlying theme of his own martyrdom and that of his fellow German prisoners in Soviet Prisoner of War camps, irritated me tremendously. Indeed, the book's full title, "Doctor at Stalingrad. The Passion of a Captivity" says a great deal about the image the author wished to create. One wonders about his piety and those of his fellow soldiers when the German armed forces were running rampant over the Soviet Union, exterminating Jews and Slavs, razing cities, and starving the population of the Soviet Union. German historians have now made it very clear that the German army played a major role, alongside the SS, in the large-scale atrocities committed throughout Soviet Russia. Indeed, most of the prisoner of war camps, in which some millions of Soviet POWs died, were run by the German army. And thus it is hard to pity Hans Dibold or his comrades taken prisoner after the German Sixth Army's debacle at Stalingrad. Yes, life in Soviet POW camps was terrible, a virtual hell, but Dibold and his colleagues were only reaping the hate-filled whirlwind they had sown. And unlike millions of Red Army soldiers who fell captive to the Germans, Hans Dibold survived. Had the Red Army not defeated the Third Reich in battles such as Stalingrad, Hitler's Wehrmact would have exterminated a good part of the Soviet population, while enslaving the rest. And it would have been virtually impossible, without the hundreds of Wehrmact divisions tied down by the Soviet Army, for the remainder of the Allies to invade and liberate Europe. Rather than buy this book readers would do better to turn to some of the new histories and Red Army memoirs of the Eastern Front in World War II. Most are much better written and a great deal more compelling, honest and insightful than this book.

A rare view of the war
This is one of the rare first hand accounts of the fall of Stalingrad and the end of the German 6th Army.This first rate book was produced with a very high quality binding and with great care given to the choice of paper used as a reproduction.Limited numbers of these books have been printed.

A Ghastly Reality
This book is a great read and an account that portrays what it was like to fall into Russian captivity after the German surrender at Stalingrad. Be warned, this book is not for the faint hearted as the author descibes the appalling and ghastly conditions experienced as he remained in Stalingrad with the worst cases of the sick and wounded. The author creates a picture of the 'living dead' as the remnants of the Sixth Army waste away with starvation and diease as he and his fellow doctors work unrelentlessly to keep them alive. This is no easy task considering the doctors are suffering under the same conditions as that of the other German prisoners, conditions of a cruel Russian winter, no adequate warm clothing and shelter and near to nothing in way of food and medical supplies. Incredibly the author bears no grudges againsnt the Russians and at times shows them with a compassion and in a more favourable light than some of the German prisoners.Read more

Subjects:  1. Dibold, Hans    2. History    3. History / Military / World War II    4. Memoirs    5. Military - World War II    6. Physicians    7. Stalingrad, Battle of, 1942-1943    8. Personal narratives, German    9. Prisoners and prisons, Russian    10. Stalingrad, Battle of, Volgograd, Russia, 1942-1943    11. World War, 1939-1945   

Reviews (1)

Landmark analysis of the Soviet system
Gregory has worked tirelessly with Russian and Western scholars to use the new information available in the archives to explore alternative hypotheses about the Soviet system's history, practice, and collapse.
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Subjects:  1. Bureaucracy    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Economic Conditions    6. Economic History    7. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    8. History    9. Politics and government    10. Public Policy - Economic Policy    11. Sources    12. Soviet Union    13. Business & Economics / Economics / General    14. Eastern Europe    15. Economic systems    16. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    17. Marxism & Communism    18. Political economy    19. Sociology, Social Studies   

Reviews (3)

An introduction and overview
This is an excellent, well-written, introduction and overview of the Eastern Front, 1941, with regard to German policies vis-a-vis the general populace. However, the author says upfront that the book is not intended as a work of great scholarship and, as indicated by the footnotes, it is not. Megargee wrote a great book in 2000 about the German General Staff (a WWII "must read"), and has a dream job at the U.S. Holocaust Museum. He is a top-notch military historian in the prime of his career, which is the reason I was so very disappointed with the book's bibliography. His book brings to mind scores of questions, and needs a good bibliography to lead the reader to appropriate literature. Instead, all we get is some lame "bibliographic essay". A definite flaw in the book.

An Outstanding Introduction to the War with Russia
For far too long historians of the Russo German war focused