Russia Books

I must say that this is one of the most interesting books I've read so far concerning the experience of everyday (Soviet?) socialism. By reconsidering such an important subject through a solid (and novel) theoretical lens and providing high quality ethnographic data, Yurchak does what every good ethnographer should do: (laconically speaking) bring something new. This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in (post)socialism. Last but not least, it is very fun to read.

This is a very good ethnographic account of some important aspects of everyday life in the later years of Soviet Union. It is interesting, well written, the quality of the research is high, and the account is truly enlightening. As a researcher actively interested in East European ethnography I woud very much like to recommend it to readers looking for interesting and non-banal accounts.

The anthropological account of post-modern society offered in this book is certainly one of the best I encountered in recent years. By brilliantly and engagingly analyzing the late soviet society, the author provides us with original analytical insights into the peoples' relations with ideology, discourse and ritual. A perennial social laboratory for all kinds of cultural experiments, Russia in its soviet phase served A. Yurchak as an empirical field whereby to conceptualize the paradoxical, non-dichotomous and multi-layered post-modern social condition. Moreover, Yurchak joins the exclusive club of genial authors who succeeded in touching the intangible uniqueness of the "soviet experience" - i.e. everyday life, way of thinking, forms of language and power, performance of dream and fake. Thus, this reading is necessary for both the favorites of lively intellectual reading and for everyone who pretends to understand something about "Russians", even if they are already post-Soviet and therefore similar and close on the one hand, but different and inconceivable on the other.
As anthropologist and Russian by origin, I try, in my everyday experience, to explain to my colleagues and friends the world I came from and to show how relevant this world is to any cultural and intellectual account of contemporary life. Yurchak's book is a great contribution to this challenge.

This story of the forgotten victims of WWII is told from a unique perspective. Two friends--the author and the subject--were personally touched by the war in very different ways. One, a german child, victimized only by the disemination of misinformation and, the other, a polish child, victimized both physically and psychologically, enslaved by the Russian allies, separated from family, seizes the opportunity to search for better life for himself and his sister. The author artfully intertwines history and real life experiences. The story is, in many parts, heartbreaking and, in all parts, facinating.

Exiled To Siberia: A Polish Child's WWII Journey is the engaging biography of a ten-year-old Polish boy deported by the Soviets at the outbreak of World War II. From Henryk Birecki's childhood in a Polish village to his ultimate integration into American society after the war, the reader is treated to a candid and informative story of the hardships and cruelties brought about by the forcible deportation of Polish men, women and children to the bleak and hazardous interior of the Soviet Union. Thousands of Poles died during transport and in the penal and forced labor camps, remote settlements, and the Kolkhozes to which they were banished. After the end of the war Henryk and his sister made it out of the Soviet Union (where his mother died), through Iran and Iraq, then Mexico, and finally to America. Exiled To Siberia is sobering reading and brings those times and events vividly to life for new generations of readers to know and understand the inhumanity and tragedy that afflicted the civilian populace of Eastern Europe during those dark and deadly days.

When I initially read this book just after it was published I called the author and thanked him for writing the book. Most of my mother's family was killed in Ark Angel, Russia and my mother grandmother, and great-aunt were all interned in many of the same places that were described in the book. It is well researched and should be necessary reading for all school aged children. it is both inspiring and educational.

This is a BEAUTIFUL book. The cases are works of art. It's amazing they didn't go blind making them!

This sumptuous volume of amazing color photographs showcases the largest collection of Faberge cigarette cases in the world. Objects ranging in style from fokeloric or rococo to modernistic and even sexy are included in this book, pointing out that the most utilitarian object( although hardly of vital importance to the average Tsarist Russian) done by the most decadent of jewelers would be a masterpiece in miniature Mr. Faberge would be astounded at Mr.Traina's obsession with these politically incorrect objects. He would also hope that the owner of so many casas would at least be a smoker and use the casas once in a while.

Mr. Traina's book about his incomparable collection is a masterwork of photography, reproduction and scholarship. The crystal clear and remarkably close up pictures of the three hundred or more cases in Mr.Trania own passionately gathered Faberge masterworks gallery make the objects themselves almost palpable. This book is also welcome for the subsidiary essays, with the sole exception of a rather sour personal note by Mr.Traina's ex- wife, Danielle Steele. As a work of art about a long lost era of grace and elan and terrible contrasting poverty and violence, The Faberge Case makes many of the forever lost emotions and dramas come to life in a most vivid fashion.

I read this for fun, and it wasn't a waste of time. It was a little a slow, but the passion for life Trugenev has is clear and beautiful. This is a classic as good as anything I've ever read.

It does have slow points, and some of the plot may seem cliché. But, at the time it was original, and even now the dialogue is never (NEVER) cliché.

I was shocked by how much I loved this book.
Read it. Use a library if you can't afford it.

I read this novel in college (Russian Lit) - and find it more exciting and revelatory now. The edition is good and helpful.

I think the thing I enjoyed most about "Fathers and Sons" was that it was short. The great Russian classics we generally think of are "War and Peace", "Crime and Punishment", etc. These are all long, drawn out books. "Fathers and Sons", thankfully, is short(er), with fewer characters and less confusion as to which person is which, especially since few have similar last names. Confusion does arise between Nicholas Petrovich and Paul Petrovich, his brother. There it is important to remember who is who, but luckily, their personalities are very different and it becomes clear very soon.

Another thing that is nice about "Fathers and Sons" is that it's different. It is not a book of great dramatic fighting (though there is one). It feels human and realistic. All the characters have both virtues and flaws that are easy to relate to. The ending is sad, but at the same time it is happy. It doesn't feel over-done, and I especially liked how the romance stuck in was sweet and not too out-there.

The book also reflects the difficulties Russia had during that period of time. Things were changing and some didn't welcome the change as much as others. Things that had once been acceptable became strange, and the people who believed in the old things became outdated. This book shows the concept of a generation gap beautifully while maintaining an interesting plot and characters.

I recommend it, partially because it's simply a good book, and partially because it shows that not all Russian classics must be long, drawn-out, and with lots of complicated names. Turgenev, who came before Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, will hopefully remain with them on the literary level for a long time to come.

If you're a graphic designer, you only need browse this excellent book for a moment or two to realize that Russian artists in the 1920's and 30's knew more about how to make a great poster than any American has ever known before or since.

Every poster designer and film buff loves American designer Saul Bass and I'm no exception, but Bass borrowed a lot from these early Russian designers like Rodchenko, and its no wonder--they were an incredible wellspring of creativity. Open any single page in this collection and you'll find a hundred great ideas regarding use of color, perspective, and mixing photography with illustration. Every designer should have this book at hand for reference. Unfortunately many of these early films have been lost or destroyed over time, but one wonders if the best part hasn't been saved--these glorious posters. I can't say enough good things about this book.

I'm not a collector of Russian/Soviet film posters, so all the liner notes could be complete bullocks, but the book is brilliantly large and appears to really want to give the straight story (for instance it gives the title that the artists gave the posters not the movie title associated w/ it). I've only seen a few of the movies it covers so I bought it solely for the art. If you're a fan of the clean Bauhaus style this book is for you.

Susan Pack's overview of the Russian avant-garde film poster, is a visual delight, and a welcome addition to the library of anyone interested in graphic design. This book is a handsome collection of pre-Communist posters from such notable graphic artists as the Stenberg brothers, and Alexander Rodchenko, as well as many other lesser known, yet talented artisans. Anyone familiar with Russian graphics of this period are in for a treat, and those seeing them for the first time will soon become addicted to their graphic impact, and innovative type treatments. A friend I've shown it to has warned me to keep an eye on it, lest it mysteriously disappear!

The book is written to address audiences in English, German, and French.

It is rare that one can use words like `gripping' for abstruse texts such as this, but I could not find another word in the English language that more accurately describes it. I await the sequel with bated breath.

I agree with Boke's assessment, save for his consistent misspelling of "empiricism".

For years, the name Poe has been synonomous with the highest level of scholarship in early Modern Russian studies. In this monograph, he has once again reasserted his dominance in the field, while simultaneously demonstrating the precise empericism on which he has founded his impressive career. The current manuscipt will doubtlessly serve as the standard by which all future accounts of the early Modern Russian era will be compared and judged.

From Eylau to Friedland is a wonderful book for those interested either in these rather obscure Napoleonic battles, or in the uniforms of the combatants. As others have noted, the translation from the French can be a bit trying at times, but either they are getting better or I'm getting used to it, as it doesn't seem so bad in this book (I also have the Austerlitz, Jena, and Borodino books in the series). The text gives a broad overview of the battles, and some excellent information on the order of battle. Uniform plates are included for French, Prussian and Russian armies, but also there are some for the Bavarians,Wurtzburg and Wurtemburg, the Duchies of Baden and Hesse, Italy, Belgium, Poland and Burg, as well as the Dutch. If you are looking for the uniform of a specific regiment, it is probably best to look at the book prior to puchase as the uniforms shown, while extensive, are only a representation and not the whole. The reproduction in colour of many period paintings is also a very welcome insight to the times. The maps, while not in 3D as some are being done now, are wonderful, and a real strenght of the book. Overall, the book can be recommended as an introduction to these important battles, or for hobbyists with an interest in Napoleonic uniforms.

The narrative may be a little clunky at times - due no doubt to translation difficulties, but the illustrations and maps more than make up for it. A solid addition to the Napoleonic series from Hourtoulle. It follows the usual format with background material and composition of the armies, but follows with excellent uniform plates and detail on both the fighting that took place, and the combatants personal histories. For those who want precise details on the uniforms of those present - very recommended, and the little asides interspersed through the narrative bring the campaign to life

i own all of the titles that go along in the series, i can't say enough about these books. the colour plates, the descriptions and the information given about the subjects are incredible. if you are going to buy any books on the napoleonic wars i highly suggest getting these, bar none.

This book is an excellent introduction to what happened from the Lenin to Stalin years in the USSR. Anyone who's curious how a country meant to turn into a Socialist Democracy became a Totalitarian Tyranny will want to read this book! This book enlightens the reader on how that country was corrupted by Stalin, and it also attacks some of the myths spread about the Bolsheviks which are still propagated today ( the German gold idea, for instance ). For those who think that Stalinism is the natural outcome of Bolshevism, read this book; It dispels the myth. This book should be complemented later by books by Trotsky and Isaac Deutscher's biographical trilogy about Lenin's second-in-command as well, but all in all, a great book to start with for understanding the Russian Revolution.

From internationalism, working people's democracy and revolution to nationalism, bureaucratic totalitarianism, and counter-revolution: in essence, that was the difference in the system of Lenin and that of Stalin.

The revolution's rise, stagnation, and betrayal come to life in this remarkable book by Victor Serge, a participant and leader of the 1917 revolution. Working people and those favoring the interests of humanity's exploited classes can learn much.

This is one book title that really gives the reader an accurate picture of its contents! Once again, Pathfinder Press has given the interested reader and student of history a first person account filled with primary source materials of a revolution. The author, Victor Serge, was a contemporary revolutionary of Lenin and Leon Trotsky and watched the counter-revolution of Stalin from the inside.
As Serge says, "Everything has changed." He takes us from the days of the textile workers strike in Petrograd on the eve of the Russian Revolution to the debates over strategies and tactics of the Spanish Civil War. One of the most compelling essays is The Condition of Women." Here Serge details the lot of thousands of young women as prostitutes, and the anti-woman legislation of the Stalinist Soviet Union. Serge writes, "the freedom of abortion, a capital conquest of the revolution, ceased to exist in the summer of 1935."
This book is a unique look at the Russian Revolution and its betrayal. It is well worth picking up.

Dr. Kratz is certainly the foremost authority on this subject. His command of the intricacies of developing markets in Eastern Europe is exceptional. His understanding led the Deutsche European Equity Fund to its 5 star number 1 rank among stock funds in its category. One would be well-advised to listen to his insights into these exciting and critical markets.

I read Dr Kratz's expose of frontier emerging markets. A very good book. He masters this asset class and the details which make a good and savvy investor in frontier markets. It is by far one of the most interesting fields of international investing, and I am sure this book is just the beginning of many more to follow on the field - it's a primer. I recommend the book to students and practitioners of finance and investments. Dr Kratz strikes a healthy balance between academic thinking and practial experience and application.

Dr. Kratz's new book on frontier markets is essential to the understanding of this new genre within the equity asset class. It offers a unique journey through the creation of a young emerging equity market and supports conclusions with strong empirical analysis. It supports the notion that valuation in "frontier markets" is more an art than a science, but in order to truly understand such markets one has to be open-minded and a keen observer of what Kratz calls the philology of the frontier market valuation debate. This is new, and sure to fuel the debate on the subject of asset pricing in an environment with little objective and hard data to come by.

This is a wonderful book for anyone just entering into Russian literature (or someone who has yet to gain a passion for reading). Dostoevsky is very poignant and clearly articulates the feelings humans go through, including the inner turmoil associated with daily life... Great night time reading.

One night i decided to "start" the first story in the book, The Double. I was up a little past four in the morning, finishing the story. I was simply enthralled. I continued in this fashion for eight days; until i had finished all eight stories. Dostoevsky seems to have endowed every piece of everything he ever wrote with complete brilliance. Though my favorite story in the collection was Notes From the Underground, all the stories were generally entertaining and almost always enlightening.

This collection can be recommended to anyone interested in sampling Dostoyesvky's shorter fiction; it contains within the one volume a good number of stories which in other editions (Penguin and Oxford) fill more than one volume.

The short stories themselves are just sublime and should not be overlooked by those who tend to think that the best work will be necessarily contained in the novels. The Double is my favourite; it is an especially humorous tale, though sombre in its overall vision. Notes from the Underground is seminal, of course, and is probably the most important story included; A Gentle Creature is disturbing.