The Empire Books

We have just returned from a trip to Prague and Vienna. This guide to Prague was absolutely invaluable and the best by far of any guide we used. Visiting Vienna afterwards, we sorely wished that they had written one on that city, too; the other travel resources we used were not nearly as complete or informative as your guide had been for Prague. We look forward to the publication of additional Avant guides in the future!

This book is dead on. We were in Prague for four days, and this book was an indispensible tool. The bar/club descriptions were honest, straight-forward and written as if by a friend who had been living there for six years. Beyond merely naming a bar, giving an address and some surface description, they go in depth, including what nights to visit which place. The restaurant descriptions were fantastic, and lead us to some of the best (and best priced) meals we had on the trip. The mapping system makes navigation remarkably easy. Get this book, go to Prague, and rest assured you will have a good time.

I must say that I'm VERY impressed with this guide for Prague. I've been a frequent visitor to the city for the past couple of years, and am FINALLY moving there this summer. This guidebook is great because it provides inside information for visitors like me-- people who don't want to look like tourists and want to take in the best of local culture and nightlife-- people who would rather try and speak even a little of the local language czech than flock to English speaking tourist traps.

One of the biggest problems about visiting another city is that, unless you know somebody there, your chances of finding your way into the local "scene" are about nil. I've tried TimeOut, which has a few bars and event listings, but other than the 1% chance that there's a concert you like right then, it's pretty unhelpful. Avant-Guide is the answer, as far as I'm concerned, steering you away from (in Prague) huge touristy places like Karlovy Lazne, "a teen-tourist club on four floors for those who don't know anyplace better to go." It has paragraph-long descriptions of 79 bars and clubs, detailing not only the music and decor but, more significantly, the crowd, the vibe, and the fact that "nobody we know has ever gotten laid here." Owning this bar is like having a best friend who's lived in the city for a dozen years and has done nothing but look for a "spectacular after-hours DJ bar that just gets going at 3am and hits its stride hours later."

Of course, there are other sections. The Restaurants section is equally good, even if it tends to favor restaurants out of the average twentysomething's budget. Ditto 20 pages on "boutique hotels." The weakness, other than occasionally MTV-cool writing, is the Sights section, tellingly placed at the back, which gives a rudimentary paragraph to places that a Frommer's or Michelin might have written a chapter on. But if you're traveling with friends rather than family, you probably won't care: you'll be recovering from the best nightlife you've ever had.

Whether your a first=timer or know San Francisco well, this guide is great. I was just visiting, but my friends who live there couldnt get enough of this book. Bottom line: the best guidebook series yet for thirtysomethingsings.

This book was a great resource for twenty-somethings who want to know relevant info about the city. It combines interesting trivia (the number of people who have jumped off the golden gate bridge, the REAL character of each district -- heroin junkies and all) with blurbs on great clubs/cafes, etc. Everytime a San Franciscan said "Hey, we thought we'd take you ____ tonight," I said "Ah, yes -- that was in my Avant-Guide." The places the book recommends are actually places where local twenty-somethings go, not just tourist traps.

The information that this book provided was an excellent guide to San Francisco. For some one who has only heard about how "cool" San Francisco is yet has no IDEA where to find these "cool" places, it fantastic. My only complaint in the layout of the book. First of all, neon pink pages make it difficult to read in spots. Second of all it just does not seem all that well organized. You can't really use it as a reference - you need to read right through it to appreciate it!

I travel to San Francisco several times a year and I've read all there is to read about the city. This book speaks to me (35 yo female), and seems like the guide I would make, if I did that sort of thing. I keep finding lots of places here that are certainly not listed anywhere else. I love the attituede... and the design is amazing too.

I love the size of the book because it fist in my purse. The paper quality and the pictures are amazing. It is very easy to read because of all the images it has. Beautiful

This was a very helpful book in understanding the Aztec civilization and culture, and the spanish conquest. The illustrations are very helpful and the judgements are sparse and generally fair.

For anyone interested in learning more or learning for the first time about the Aztecs, this book is highly recommended. As mentioned by the other reviewer, it is filled with so many high quality art pictures and is very effective in describing the history, beliefs and rituals of this great empire. Someone stole my book, but I'm going to buy it again. It's that good.

This a handy little book that can be taken with you anywhere, it is smaller than an average man's hand. It's an excellent source book for covering the the rise and fall of the Mexica(Aztec) civilization. The illustrations are wonderful reproductions of some of the most famous paintings of the conquest, including many from the murals of Diego Rivera. The paper is thick stock and fact filled with little commentary that is conjecture. The strength of this reference book is that it has many rarely seen pictures from an assortment of codexes and the reproductions are superb. Some are small but the quality remains so as to distinquish what you are looking at without any problem. The color in the illustrations is great and very much as the originals. Every page has at least one picture and most have numerous. It is visually stimulating to see as you read the history. Another strength of the book is that it has one third dedicated to documents. The conquest is retold, again, in a series of original documents, dating from the time period being discussed, most of which are primary documents. Anyone interested in Mexico and it's history will benefit from this book. Also anyone interested in art will enjoy the collection of illustrations throughout book. This is an excellent, little, wealth of information waiting for the student of Mexican history.

This book is a must for Yankee Historian

An excellent account of the Southern attempt to sieze and hold the western territories. I enjoyed the book and found it easy to read. It covered the southern viewpoint and history of the attempt to secure Arizonia and New Mexico for the Confederacy. The book has good maps that allow the reader to understand the movement across the wide expanse of the Southwest. Personal accounts give a good view of the individaul Texan's view of the campaign and battles. A forgotten theater which was overshadowed by the fighting elsewhere. Dr. Frazier does a good job of showing the strengths and weaknesses of the Confederate Army of New Mexico. The book added to my understanding of this campaign and I recommend to to anyone interested in this campaign.

Fantastic book about the southern struggle to build an empire!All northern history teachers should read this book.I am a U.S.History teacher who wrote a story about my greatgrandfather who was in prison in Texas during the Civil War and DFrazier contacted me for info,thus I have now read his book and it is superb!

I found this book to be an exciting and revealing look into the western campaign of the Civial War. Dr. Frazier is an incredible story teller as well as a thorough researcher. A must read for anyone interested in the role of the western Confederacy.

This is a very fine book and well worth picking up and reading IF you are interested in the Byzantine physical remnants of Anatolia, in particular. Ash spends some time visiting sites in Constantinople at the beginning and end of his journey, but the lion's share is spent between Iznik/Nicaea, at the west end, and Cappadocia and Cilicia, at the east end of Asia Minor. Ash may not be a Byzantine scholar, but he is a master at noticing detail and telling stories. His sensitive and learned eye provide remarkable insight into the ruins he visits, in terms of the lives of the people connected to them...their builders, if known, the lives of Anatolia's Greek population (of which very substantial remains existed up until the early 1920s), and Anatolian Turks of today (Ash has a kind and observant way of recognizing the young boys and girls who seem to always pop up and help him find this or that ruin, that rings true).

You truly won't get this stuff in guidebooks. I found out all sorts of things about Byzantium reading Ash's book, and I'm a pretty conversant layman in things Byzantine. Comparing Ash's experience with my own to Istanbul/Iznik a few years ago, his accounts are authentic to the what I experienced (the friendliness and helpfulness of Anatolians in particular). His account of his visit to the Golden Gate is hilarious and pathetic and much like my own experience at this (apparently almost unvisited) world class historic location. He has an ability to marvel, unashamedly, at turning a corner and finding something unexpected...but this is no neophyte easily impressed.

Ash also has a lovely poetic way of expressing the tragic demise of Byzantine civilization that somehow manages to remain firmly rooted in the present. That's good writing.

Book has some good photos (more would be welcomed...he visits many places that do not show up in the pics), and the map is okay, as is the index.

The author is not one who has gone this way before and is therefore giving a somewhat innocent view of Byzantine monuments in Turkey. I found in the book interesting dialogue and some helpful suggestions for visiting those same sights in May '98.

Ash is a great writer. He makes Byzantine history come alive and captures life in modern Turkey. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the region and its history.

this is a wonderful book. Ash is an attentive and descriptive writer who weaves anecdote, history and travel writing into an unusually gifted book. Perfect beach or travel reading. As one who is Greek and originally from Asia Minor, I find his insights to be keen, especially as to cultural matters and the tug of war between Greek and Turk, between Christian and Moslem, which animates the history of Asia Minor and Constantinople, Smyrna, Nicaea and Nicomedia to this day.

This is a great survey, often quite detailed, of the evolution and developement of the military of the Byzantium Empire, from mid-6th century, to the late-12th century.

It must be emphasised that this is not a general history of the Byzantium Empire's wars, rather it is an examination of the military practices and traditions (including tactics, strategy, defensive/offensive posture, recuitement, ethnic make, etc...) of the Empire's military, and how they evolved, with several campaigns and battles used as illustrations and examples.

Thus, there is no coverage of the wars of Heracluis (aside from the Yarmuk battle), for example, nor a detailed look at the military impact of the Western Crusaders, nor even of Byzantine naval postures.

These absences however are not an over-sight nor a weakness, rather it is due, again, to this book not being a general history of the Empire's wars and battles, but rather a look at its military traditions and practices, and their evolution over six centuries. The campaigns and battles included are meant to illustrate these changes and evolutions.

If you want such a book, on Byzantine military practices, and their evolution through-out the six centuries covered here, then this is an excellent book.

If however you want a general book on Byzantine military history, with all the wars and major battles it faught, then this book, while still great for those campaigns and battles covered, will have to be supplemented by other books.

This book is a gem for historical gamers.

The book contains a description of selected battles and campaigns for the Byzanitine Empire during the 5th to 12th centuries. Persians, Arabs, Slavs, Rus, and Turks are all included. Lot's of background information

"The Byzantine Wars" is a well written, edited, and professionally presented tome. With smooth prose, the book is engaging. I throughly enjoyed reading it. Many diagrams, maps, and photographs are included and clearly support the presentation. I especially liked the contemporary photos of the battlefields and fortresses. Although, the maps will be familiar to Haldon's past readers. The only real drawback to the work is the author's bibliograhic style. Primary and secondary sources are listed for each section, but the author fails to consistently distinguish between what the sources say and his own conclusions.

This book is especially recommended this book for gamers. Scenarios on the hoof. "The Byzantine Wars" helps fill a gaping hole in Byzantine military history. I only wish it was less like a super Osprey book.

I bought my copy through the mail from On Military Matters in New Jersey. ...Buy one now. After all if the book sells well, perhaps they'll make more.

This short book gives a strategic, operational, and tactical overview of the Byzantine army in action. It is not a book about the Byzantine army as an institution; even the themes are given a relatively brief look. Byzantine society and religion are only peripherally mentioned. The first campaign studied is Dara (530) ; the last is Myriokephalon (1176). There is an easy to follow description of the Yarmuk campaign against the Arabs. Several battles against the Bulgars are also described with clarity. About half the battles discussed are Byzantine defeats. This book, focused as it is, goes a long way toward filling a gap in Byzantine studies.

This concise volume was a pleasent surprise with the level of technical details provided. It begins with the constraints and challenges of geography of the vast Byzantine empire, continues with military organization developed by Justinian I and how it changed with time, then goes on to describe various campaigns/wars in various phases of the empire through its fall. The maps are very clear and are a great complement to the text. The battle plan diagrams are also quite helpful with good detail and description. The amount of information contained in such a small page count with little apparent sacrifice of clarrity is very impressive. A better introduction to the topic would be hard to imagine.

This is a well-written text dealing with the movement of peripheral outsiders into primacy in the London metropolis. Hancock spends a great deal of time supporting his thesis, though occasionally he does get bogged down in lists and facts. This is not merely an economic history of late eighteenth century trans-Atlantic trade, but an in-depth examination of how a select group of outsiders made their way into the depths and heights of London's metropolis society. Hancock's narrative style makes this an interesting and engaging read. I would recommend this text to anyone interested in how outsiders gained prominence in the London middle class and how those same outsiders became landed `gentlemen' in the late eighteenth century.

David Hancock has written a striking account of the careers of twenty-three very successful London merchants who invested together in several particularly challenging and rewarding branches of British overseas trade in the eighteenth century. His masterful study is based on intense and imaginative research in Britain, the continent, the United States and the West Indies. From his rich findings, he has developed a thoughtful and probing treatment of topics such as the wholesale slave trade, the Scots element in the City of London and the large government contractors in the Seven Years War. His achievement is most impressive.
Jacob M. Price, University of Michigan (from the dust jacket)

"Citizens of the World" is perhaps the finest study ever written on a mercantile group. Hancock moves gracefully from the counting house to the country house, from slaving to art collecting, in reconstructing the lives of the Associates. Beautifully written and extraordinarily well researched, "Citizens of the World" represents an outstanding scholarly achievement.

Peter Coclanis, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (from the dust jacket)

"Citizens" is a vivid, readable portrait of a group of men who, by virtue of their merchant enterprises, helped to shape the destiny of the American colonies in the 18th century. The author, while not stinting on historic detail, manages to squeeze in enough lively anecdotes about the men, their times, and their lives, to make "the Associates" human -- and utterly fascinating.

This fascinating book has something in it for almost everyone interested in eighteenth-century history. Business historians will find keen analysis of the techniques that a remarkable group of entrepreneurs used to propel themselves from the periphery to the center of Britain's imperial economy. Cultural historians will acquire new insights into what it meant to be British at the moment that identity was being forged. Students of British and American history in general will discover how intricately social ambition, commerce, war, and slavery interacted in the construction of the first empire. And anyone at all who admires intricate argument, imaginative research, and stylish prose will find "Citizens of the World" a delight.
Fred Anderson, University of Colorado at Boulder (from the dust jacket)

The other reviews allready tells you what you need to know about the very good analysis this good provides about the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union. In addition to give a comprehensive understanding of what happened the writer also manages to put new light on common assumptions. For instance he illustrates that Gorbachev's huge unpopularity among many Russians is rather unfair, as any Soviet leader in his position would have to make many of the same decissions. He illustrates that one should be careful before jumping to conclusions about Gorbachev's democratic and open policies as these policy was an absolute condition for getting political loans - the only type of credit that the Soviet Union was able to get in the 2nd half of the 80s.

The book has two mayor weeknesses in my view. First, the book gets too unfocused as a result of first telling a story about why autoritarian empires tends to collaps and why and how oildominated economies tends to experience certain problems, before he starts on the story about the downfall of the Soviet Union. This could be made much shorter, clearer and integrated in the actual story. If he wants to write a story about the problem all the world's oil economies experiences, the sensible way to do this is to write another book about it. This weekness is not very important as you can skip these chapters if you want to read about what what is written on the cover - the collapse of an empire.

A more serious problem is that the writer is like a sales man that keeps giving you new arguments for his product, even though you are convinced and are ready to buy. Sometimes less is more - a few tables can illustrate the point better than 600 tables that by no means is equally informative. Include 1 or 2 quotes where it offers a clear added value to the writer's own text. It is not necesary to add several quotes of varying informative value to virtually every argument. This is a more serious problem as it more difficult to skip the quotes or tables that is not very interesting without reading all of them.

All in all though, for anyone interested in the Soviet Union and its collapse, this books provides an uniqe insight - even insights that can give new insight into other books about the same subject.

This remarkably accessible, lucid survey of recent Russian history is a must-read for anyone interested in global affairs. Yegor Gaidar, an acting prime minister under Boris Yeltsin, provides a concise yet comprehensive summary of the course of empires during the 20th century, and draws some pointed lessons. His goal is to counter current nostalgia for the glory days of the Soviet Union. getAbstract admires how effectively he executes his objective, with a step-by-step recapitulation of the economic blunders that led inevitably to the Soviet Union's dissolution. However, he also shows why those who expected democracy to grow must face the fact that it is on the retreat - and he leaves no doubt about the dangerous crossroads at which Russia stands.

Cassandra was the Trojan woman whom Apollo gave the gift of prophesy-and the curse of never being believed. Yegor Gaidar sees that Russia's future depends crucially on coming to grips with its past, but present events make it clear that his prophesies, like Cassandra's, fall on deaf ears.

In his new book, Collapse of an Empire, Gaidar has a pressing purpose: to alert Russians-and the world-to the dangers denying the real reasons behind the collapse of the USSR. Gaidar has a strong historical sense (which is often absent among economists, alas), and from his understanding of history (most notably, of Weimar Germany and post-Hapsburg Austria-Hungary), he knows that imperial collapse can be disorienting and dispiriting to the empire's subjects, even if the empire brutally repressed them. He also knows that demagogues and revanchists can exploit this disorientation and depression to achieve power. Those suffering from post-empire depression are very susceptible to demagogic myths that imperial glory was destroyed by "stabs in the back" from enemies foreign and domestic, and that restoration of this glory requires the people to unite behind an authoritarian leader who will ruthlessly pursue traitors at home and take revenge on foreign foes.

But he foresees that this is ultimately the road to disaster:

The legend of a flourishing and mighty country destroyed by foreign enemies is a myth dangerous to the country's future. . . . This is the picture that dominates Russian public opinion: (1) twenty years ago there existed a stable, developing and powerful country, the Soviet Union; (2) strange people (perhaps agents of foreign intelligence services) started political and economic reforms within it; (3) the results of these reforms were catastrophic; (4) in 1999-2000 people came to power who were concerned with the country's state interests; (5) life became better after that. This myth is as far from the truth as the one of an unconquerable and loyal Germany that was popular among the Germany that was popular among the Germans in the late 1920s and 1930s.

The goal of this book is to show that picture does not correspond to reality. Believing that myth is dangerous for the country and the world.

As an aside, I can speak to the ubiquity and power of this myth. I have had a couple of Russian students in the United States. Both were intelligent and worldly. One had lived in the United States for 10 years. Both were going to business schools. And each believed that Gorbachev and Yeltsin were American agents, and that the collapse of the USSR was a CIA plot. The first time I heard this I was surprised, but thought it was an aberration. The second time I heard it I was stunned.

But back to Collapse of an Empire. Gaidar's basic thesis is that the economic-and hence political-collapse of the USSR was inevitable:

[The collapse of the USSR] was preordained by the fundamental characteristics of the Soviet economy and political system: the institutions formed in the late 1920s and early 1930s were too rigid and did not permit the country to adapt to the challenges of world development in the late 20th century. The legacy of socialist industrialization, the anomalous defense load, the extreme crisis in agriculture, and the noncompetitive manufacturing sector made the fall of the regime inevitable. In the 1970s and early 1980s these problems could have been managed if oil prices had been high. But that was not a dependable foundation for preserving the last empire.

Gaidar recounts the chronology of collapse in excruciating detail; too much detail at times for my taste, but a choice that Gaidar defends as necessary to overcome the power of the myth.

Gaidar shows that agriculture was the Achilles heel of the Soviet system. Stalin ruthlessly exploited agriculture to fund industrial development. This worked for awhile, but only served to demonstrate that supply curves are much more elastic in the long run than the short run. In the short run, peasants could be forced to turn over the bulk of their harvest in exchange for a pittance. In the long run, however, the attempt to extract surplus from the countryside and the necessity of attracting labor to manufacturing and megaprojects led to a flow of the best and most productive labor out of agriculture and into industry. Soviet agriculture became progressively less efficient as a result. Combine this with assorted insanities, like the virgin lands program, and what was once the world's breadbasket became a farming basketcase.

Forced to import larger and larger quantities of food, but non-competitive in the production of machinery or other manufactured goods, the USSR relied on the export of oil to pay for it. With increasing oil output from rich western Siberian fields, and spiraling prices (courtesy of OPEC and declining US production), for a time the USSR was able to overcome the creeping weakness of its agriculture sector, and even go on an aggressive military and political offensive that spanned the globe. But soon declining oil production (attributable to extremely inefficient Soviet practices) and plummeting prices (courtesy of growing non-OPEC output, burgeoning Saudi production, and more efficient consumption of energy in the West) conspired to create an acute fiscal crisis in the USSR.

Gaidar chronicles the results of this crisis, and the government's (and Party's) incompetence in dealing with it. The rigidity of a centrally planned system, the rudimentary nature of the financial system, the acute political constraints facing the country's leadership, and the geronocratic nature of that leadership, made it impossible to respond. Things spiraled out of control. Price controls prevented smooth adjustment to external shocks. Fear of political unrest prevented the leadership from lifting the controls. Faced with incredible strains on the budget, the government ran the printing press overtime. Partial "reform" measures, and improvident policy choices (such as the anti-alcohol campaign that deprived the government of a large share of its domestic revenues), only made things worse. In the end, everything came tumbling down.

Gaidar's narrative is compelling. To a Chicago-trained economist, it is almost axiomatic that socialist system that suppresses and distorts almost every market signal; deprives individuals of the ability to make coherent economic choices; and resorts to force in an attempt to make its irrational system work; will fail in the end.

To the Russians who grew up in the system, or who grew up in the aftermath of its collapse, alas, it is not so obvious. As Gaidar notes, the fall of an empire seems anything but common sense to those that lived it. Putin and the siloviki are exploiting this to the hilt, and are perpetrating the myth that the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the economic and social chaos that followed this collapse was not due to the inherent defects of the Soviet economic system, but instead resulted from malign external forces. The recent "elections" indicate that large swaths of the Russian populace have fallen for this myth hook, line, and sinker.

So for the present, anyways, Gaidar is doomed to play the role of Cassandra, prophesying that disaster will follow Putin's Plan, but cursed to be disbelieved and ignored. Putin and the siloviki, like the Bourbons, have learned nothing and forgotten nothing. They have not learned from what destroyed the Soviet Union, but have not forgotten that the Soviet Union was once a colossus before which the world trembled. They want to restore this colossus (admittedly, and happily, without all the totalitarian baggage), and are pursuing this goal relentlessly.

I believe that Gaidar is right that down this path lies ruin. I fear, however, that Russia will have to find this out the hard way. So Yegor Gaidar is a prophet without honor in his own country, among his own kin, and in his own house. But I believe he is a prophet nonetheless. And I heartily recommend that you read his excellent book.

Professor Gaidar has done it again! He has given us another thoughtful work on Russia, yet not purely from an economic perspective- although there is lots of that in the book- but in terms of the context of history. Readers new to Gaidar would do well to get hold of his work 'State and Evolution'. This work also brilliantly examines recent of events in Russia in the context of the development of nations.

I look forward to more from this man's pen. And my sincere appreciation to the Brooking Institute for making this work available in English. Possibly, with the level of interest in such a work, its sales may not be high and Broooking may be making a financial loss. But to readers like myself, I feel a great gratitude of debt to both the author and publisher.

Buy this book and enjoy an intellectual feast! It is simply fantastic!

Yegor Gaidar's Collapse of an Empire is an insider's view of the causes and events that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The author is has a fascinating and improbable background. He served as acting Prime Minister, First Deputy Prime Minister, and Economics Minister of Russia under Boris Yeltsin in the early 1990s but is an academic economist rather than a politician or bureaucrat. He received his PhD in economics under the Soviet educational system but, somehow, developed a solid understanding of economics of free markets. In Collapse of an Empire, Gaidar offers his historical and economic perspective on the Soviet collapse as a lesson and caution for today's Russia. It is as close to a definitive work on the Soviet collapse as I have yet read.

Gaidar starts with two general observations, one on empires and one on oil, and then proceeds to describe the Soviet Collapse.

Empires

Empires come in two flavors: Overseas empires (British, French, Dutch) and territorially contiguous empires (Austria-Hungary, Tsarist Russia, Ottoman Turkey, Soviet Union, and, on a smaller scale, Yugoslavia). Of these two types, the overseas empires are the easier to dismantle: The imperial power can simply declare the former colonies free and, possibly, repatriate a limited number of colonists with a claim to citizenship in the mother country. In territorial empires, diverse ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious groups usually reside in close proximity to each other and often have longstanding conflicts over rights to land and under the law. Abolishing a territorial empire leaves all these conflicts in place, ready to boil over as soon as imperial control has been lifted. Members of the formerly dominant ethnic group may even find themselves a minority in one of the successor states and subject to the rule of one of their formerly subject people. Many of the troubled areas of the world today (Balkans, Middle East) are parts of former territorial empires where population segments have not succeeded in making peace with their neighbors.

Oil

Countries with significant natural resources, especially oil, have generally not been on the forefront of democracy or economic liberalism. Gaidar attributes this phenomenon to the steady stream of revenues the sale of oil provides the ruling party. Secured by this source of income, the government has no need to reach an accommodation with its people that gives them a voice in how they are governed. In exchange, the tax burden on the population often remains very light. The western democracies grew out of accommodations that essentially gave the people a voice in how their countries were governed in exchange for their acceptance of the government's imposition of taxes.

Soviet Collapse

Prior to WWI, Russia was one of the largest grain exporters in the world. In the West, industrialization followed the production of an agricultural surplus which released excess farm labor for industrial employment. Russia followed a different path after the Bolshevik revolution. Rather than building an agricultural surplus, Lenin and Stalin seized the grain and other agricultural products of the countryside to feed the urban and industrial populations. Simultaneously, they reallocated labor from agriculture to industry to support their goal of rapid industrialization. The result was an economic and human disaster. Soviet agriculture never recovered, never produced a sustained surplus, and the country became dependent on imported grain. (See Robert Conquest's Harvest of Sorrow for details). By the 1970s, the Soviet Union was the world's largest grain importer.

At that time (the 1970s), the Soviets were able to pay for their grain imports by exporting oil. This was the time of high oil prices and the Arab embargo on oil exports to the US. Grain prices were low, so Soviet trade balanced nicely: Expensive exports, inexpensive imports.

In 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan and Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah of Iran. These events led the Saudis to become concerned about a Soviet drive to the Persian Gulf and a threat to their kingdom. To counter this perceived threat, in the mid 1980s the Saudis greatly expanded their production and export of oil causing the world price to drop from the $30-40/bbl range to about $10/bbl. Obviously, this price change damaged the Soviet balance of trade.

At about the same time (mid 1980s), the world price of grain shot up significantly. This further damaged the Soviet trade balance.

If this wasn't enough, the volume of Soviet oil production declined in the late 1980s for two reasons. First, to generate foreign exchange, oil production had been focused on the most productive fields which were exploited at a rate that was harmful to the long-term productivity of the fields. Second, the reduced availability of foreign exchange and the continuing requirement to import grain led the Soviet government to reduce imports of industrial materials from the West, including equipment for oil drilling, production, and transport.

By 1989, food subsidies constituted a third of the Soviet national budget. Retail prices were fixed at artificially low levels, which was one form of subsidy. At the same time, the Soviet government was subsidizing the import and domestic production of food. The costs of producing or importing food were as much as 70% higher than the retail prices. With a net outflow of hard currency and a grossly imbalanced domestic budget, the only way to "pay" the government's bills was to print more rubles. With prices fixed by the state, the resulting inflation could only result in shortages at the retail level and a huge increase in individual "savings" since there was nothing for the population to buy with its rubles. By 1991, of 1200 officially recognized consumer goods, 1150 were not readily available.

Declining credit-worthiness drove most western commercial banks to refuse to make further loans to the Soviet government, leaving Gorbachev with only the option of begging for foreign aid from the capitalist governments. Gaidar even suggests that he made the following deal with George H. W. Bush at their Malta conference in 1989: In exchange for US financial assistance, the Soviet government will refrain from using force to maintain its control of its Eastern European satellites.

Throughout its 70+ years of existence, the mantra of the Soviet government and the Communist Party had been that The Party had a special role in the Soviet system because of its unique "wisdom", its understanding of communist economics and the Soviet man. By the late 1980s, the Russian people and even the Soviet bureaucracy knew that this was a lie. However, the inertia of the system did not allow The Party to admit it's "wisdom" had been wrong and that a major economic reform based on free markets was desperately needed.

By revealing the true history of the Soviet Union (e.g., the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact), Glasnost destroyed any lingering myth of the legitimacy of the Soviet Empire. In the end, the Empire could only be maintained by force, but the use of that force would have ended any hope for financial aid from the West.

The August 1991 coup was only the farce that followed the tragedy that constituted the history of the Soviet Union.

Title: Crucible of Empire
Author(s): John Edwards
Translator(s): N/A
Language(s): English
Pages: 301

Summary Review
Crucible of Empire is a tale of the separate adventures of a part Seneca, part Japanese sergeant of the United States military, Elijah Wolf, and a well-mannered lawyer turned volunteer fighter, Stephen Hunter. The story is a historical novel set during the Spanish-American War of 1898, and covers a period from the sinking of the Maine to the push towards Santiago Harbor. Additionally, there is a brief portion at the end of the text about the author. Generally, the historical accuracy of the novel is quite good, the descriptions of the battles and wartime fervor seeming to come straight from personal accounts of the 1890s. However, the book suffers from a lack of proper editing, sometimes to the point of multiple errors on a single page. Editing set aside, Edwards' book is an interesting and entertaining read, incorporating aspects of ancient works such as the Art of War while also seamlessly adding historical facts and details about the time that his book takes place. This book is recommended for any reader looking for a good book about war, the Spanish-American War, or just a novel in general.

In-Depth Review
John Edwards provides readers of Crucible of Empire with a historical novel that is not only accurate, but also interesting. However, the book has fallen victim to poor editing, which at certain points severely detracts from the overall story. The author structures the book so that events are recounted by day with a break mentioning the date and location each portion takes place. Throughout the book, the storyline switches between Stephen Hunter (a lawyer), Elijah Wood (a part Seneca, part Japanese US soldier), and several minor characters, in order to provide a better picture of each event. Included in the back of the book is a brief section about the author.
The story intertwines itself with the history of one of America's defining conflicts, the Spanish-American War, and presents the conflict in neither a positive nor a negative light. Instead, Edwards presents the conflict in a realistic way, describing both the flawed and heroic actions taken during the battles. The various historical facts included mold the story in such a way as to appear as an actual account of two people who historically fought in the war, and raises the credibility of the author's work considerably. One will also notice that the author incorporates various tactics found in Sun Tzu's The Art of War, placing them in the thoughts and observations of both Wolf and, at times, several other characters. Sadly, the storyline suffers from a lack of proper editing that detracts from the reader's experience.
Grammar and spelling are a major issue at several points in the book, forcing the reader to reread certain portions of the text in order to determine what the author is trying to say. This problem could have easily been avoided with proper editing, and the overall story would have improved dramatically. However, the author's writing style does an admirable job of portraying characters and events throughout the book, often incorporating several perspectives on any given event. While at times his switching between characters is a bit rough, the concept is quite advanced and he was able to produce the desired effect with little error.
`Crucible of Empire' is an enjoyable historical novel that provides a fresh look at the events surrounding the Spanish-American War. Although the ending is a bit abrupt, the story flows smoothly and, excluding grammar and spelling, with only negligible error. The historical details included amplify the story and make the characters and events seem more realistic. Edwards' `Crucible of Empire' is recommended for anyone looking for an interesting read concerning war, the Spanish-American War, or a good novel in general.

While the idea of a part Japanese/Seneca Indian Cavalry sergeant is a little far fetched the story stands up well. The characters are well rounded and real people with real problems and feelings. The research seems to be flawless and the story flows well. The only thing I would have liked was a final chapter about Elijah and what he did after the war, but I guess the author was leaving room for a sequel...

If you like a good story this is a good one and I will look for other works by this author!

If you like your historical novels historical, CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE will leave you feeling like you got your money's worth.
I found this book to be unique in several ways. The first being in the way it dealt with Theodore Roosevelt. He isn't placed on a pedastel, nor is TR depicted as a buffoon. There is no doubt that Roosevelt had a huge ego, but he was also a talented leader. Edwards' balanced portrayal of him lets you see his good and bad traits.
Those of you who read Bernard Cornwell will like the battle scenes in this book. They seem to be historically accurate, and Edwards does a rousing job making you feel the fear and exhilaration the American soldiers experienced as they fought the Spanish army from Daiquiri to Santiago. Edwards recounts the battle of Santiago clearly and crisply, and though he tells it almost hour by hour, the story never gets bogged down.
The lead character was kind of unique as well. Sergeant Elijah Wolf is a Seneca Indian, whose ancestors include a samurai warrior. (definitely never heard that one before) Wolf is a no nonsense soldier, who knows the art of war. And yet, he isn't depicted as some indestructable, sword wielding, super hero. He comes across as real, and the way Edwards has him interacting with actual historical figures such as Theodore Roosevelt, John J. (Black Jack) Pershing--who served in Cuba as a lieutenant--and General Rufus Shafter, who commanded the American army in Cuba, is quite interesting, and makes you feel like you're right there.
Once you finish the book, you will wonder how America ever won the war. Our army wasn't prepared, the navy was under orders not to risk losing even a single ship, and though history has glamorized the Rough Riders, you will be amazed that a bunch of 3 week wonders even managed to fight an experienced Spanish army, let alone do as well as they did.
Without giving anything away, I liked the little conspiracy twist outlining who sunk the Maine, and why. Obviously a deviation from actual historical facts, but this is fiction, right?
All in all, a good book about a war that hasn't received much coverage. The way it ends leaves you feeling there will probably be another book. Hope the wait isn't long.

I really enjoyed this book. So much so, that after reading it, I went to one of Edwards' book discussions. His presentation on the Spanish-American War was very interesting, and you can tell that his knowledge of this often forgotten chapter of American history is rather extensive. His main character is a Seneca Indian named Elijah Wolf; a soldier's soldier, whose frustration with his superiors at the way the war was planned and executed, makes you wonder how we ever managed to win. If you're a historical buff like myself you will glad to know that CRUCIBLE isn't like certain other books being churned out by so-call historical novelists, whose works these days seem to resemble soap operas. For one thing, Wolf doesn't spend half his time chasing women, or swilling scotch. He doesn't look for the exception to every rule, and for those of you who appreciate the fact that not all soldiers use the F word in every other sentence, I think there are less than a dozen profanities in this book, the harshest of which was "bastard". Teddy Roosevelt is featured prominitely in the story, and I liked how Edwards presented both the good and the bad sides of TR's personality and character. There are other actual historical figures throughout the book as well, including Lt. John J. (Black Jack) Pershing, who later gained fame as the commanding general of American Forces in Europe during World War I. As I said, I really enjoyed the book, and I'm not giving anything away by saying that Edwards did a nice job of setting it up for a sequel. Can't wait!

Dragonwall, is the second book in the Empires Trilogy, and deals primarily with Shou Lung (located to the far east of Faerun), and its inhabitants.
Picking up from where Horselords left off, the book sheds light on General Batu, leading the imperial forces in the defense of his homeland against Khahan Yamun and the Tuigan army.
Whereas Horselords looks at the story from the point of view of Koja and the Tuigan, Dragonwall looks at the continuation of the same story from the point of view of General Batu and the Shou Lung. It's not bad, just a bit unusual, and it does take some getting used to.
The plot as a whole is excellent! The book is so incredibly well written that the reader feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. Moreover, Troy Denning does a great job of presenting the distinct culture and civilization of the peoples of the Orient. He has done a great deal of research in order to provide such an accurate and lucid description of the Chinese-like people.
Red Wizards, Gnolls, epic battles, sieges, political intrigue, blackmail, assassinations, and betrayal are all about.
In conclusion, Dragonwall has something for everyone, and is strongly recommended to all Forgotten Realms fans, especially Eastern/Oriental enthusiasts.

This books holds the second dimension of the 3 dimensional gem called "The empires triology". Leading you to view the desicions and lives of 3 leaders all engulfed in a sweeping war makes you think a bit about right and wrong, winner and loser. Almost as good as "Horselords" this book opens a gate to the land of Shou Lung, it's court and it's field. As a young general attemps to hold the kingdom's borders from the sweeping horde of Tuigan barbarians, while his wife attempts to save his reputation and command from the hands of spy sent to undermine him.

A book that engulfs you in battles and conspirasies. A Must BUT can be fully enjoyed only after reading "Horselords".

This is an absolutely amazing novel. The second book in the Empires trilogy, it completely avoids the "middle book syndrome". Most 2nd novels in a trilogy are about nothing and contain a whollllllle lot of travel, but this book is a very personal tale.

Batu is a general in the Shou army who is charged with stopping the Tuigan invaders. His wife is left behind to deal with the court. Out of these 2 simple plot devices a fascinating tale unfolds.

Without revealing anything I will say this, the novel is a very personal journey by Batu as he tries to deal with the invaders. The pleasant thing about this tale is the unexpected twists it takes. What you expect at the beginning of this story is not what you get at the end. Being that it is the 2nd book in a trilogy there are some things that you know MUST happen, such as the Tuigans continuing on to battle Cormtyr in the 3rd novel. This does not mean that a very powerful battle does not occur. It is the results of the battle and its fallout that are surprising.

All of the characters are interesting, and seem like real people. In fact, it is the honest portrayals that make this such a good book. After everything that Batu goes through his responses seem real, not as if they were manipulated to fit an outline.

It was further enhanced by the appearance of characters from the 1st novel, who come across as true to their portrayals in Horselords.

If you want a really good story with action and personality read Dragonwall.

Upon finding out this book is no longer in print, I felt upset-- upset that so many lovers of fantasy literature will never be able to read it. Fans of AD&D novels who are forgiving of the weaknesses of the genre will be shocked to find those weaknesses missing here. DRAGONWALL is a study of a man who struggles; he struggles between duty to empire and duty to his ancestry, love of family and love of emporer, and the hateful but necessary arena of politics versus the glorious but hardship-ridden theatre of war. Stunningly, this book satisfies on a variety of levels; the intrigue of court politics is intricate and suspenseful, the scenes of battle are breathtaking and involving, and the personal struggles wracking the protagonist make you understand him deeply. You will admire him and suffer with him. If any "fantasy" novel can bridge the gap between entertainment reading and literature, this is the one. Try to find it--it's incredible.