Russia Books

In The Flying Tiger: Women Shamans And Storytellers Of The Amur, storyteller/folklorist Kira Van Deusen draws upon her expertise and experience in the oral traditions of the peoples of Siberia (especially in the Amur region) to present more than fifty traditional stories she recorded from the people of the taiga forest in the Russian Far East. The stories bridge culture, history, and spirituality to reveal the lives of the storytellers, their adaptation to the environment, relationships with animals, and even their sense of humor. Readers are also provided with descriptions of the lives of the people of the Amur in the 1990s, a period of rapid and dramatic transition. The Flying Tiger is an impressive work that is especially recommended to students of shamanism, storytelling, folklore, Russia, indigenous cultures, women's studies, and ancient traditions.

These essays -- by a roster of accomplished contemporary scholars of Russian Studies -- are wonderfully accesible and informative. Readers with interests in folk culture and history, Russian studies (history, literature, whatever) and/or culinary history will feel like they've struck gold. The thirteen scholarly pieces, some with a few illustrations, cover a wealth of topics (see table of contents above)-- consistently well. It's anything but dry; Pamela Chester's article on the relationship between (state-) tormented poets Marina Tsvetaeva and Osip Mandelstam (and their uses of food as symbol and, tragically, their deprivation of it, later) is heartbreaking. Peasantry, the gentry, and the Eastern Orthodox church; brilliant fussbudget Tolstoy's vegetarianism is in here; the uses of food in the writing of Dostoyevsky; fasting and food fashions; Catherine the Great (hardly any tastebuds; hearty interest in 'presentation'); the new Soviet state with its ambitious dreams for the citizenry, and the ultimate cynical mess that resulted. Food as power, class marker, moral symbol, and solace. The roots of asceticism (Orthodox church).Unfortunately, Jewish life and gulag life has been omitted, and a careful list of the prices of foodstuffs in St. Petersburg in Catherine's time is all rubles and kopeks... so I couldn't tell what I might have been able to afford.. What's here, though, is very good. I'll look for Volume 2.

One of the first books published on contemorary russian art. Good overview of the different artists. One of the classics on the subject.

This book is an excellent resource guide regarding the end-of-empire migration that has followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Arthur Helton and Natalia Voronina's book provides invaluable information about the 9 million people who have been displaced within the former Soviet Union, 3 million of whom are ethnic Russians. In addition to outlining the forced migration trends, the book outlines what international, regional and national legal structures exist to cope with this crisis and what non-governmental organizations are doing. It includes key Russian Federation laws and Commonwealth of Independent States treaties in English translation to inform the reader on the existing legal framework. This book delivers, in one slim volume, an enormous amount of critical information about forced displacement in Eurasia. It is an indispensable tool for those studying or making policy on this issue.

Just before the 1800s, a group of Mennonites emigrated from the Vistula Delta area to the Ukraine, where they established their own communities, with their religious freedoms guaranteed. These believers prospered in their new land, and the late 1800s became something of a golden age for them. One of their number was a photographer named Peter Gerhard Rempel. Rempel set up shop in the Chortitza Colony, and took many pictures. As with all golden ages, however, this one came to an end. In the chaos of World War I and the Russian Revolution, the fragile Mennonite communities were torn apart, their members fleeing to the New World. But Mr. Rempel never really did find himself at home in his new land, he always dreamed of that golden age in southern Russia, where it was forever summer and forever Sunday.

The text of this book is an excellent history of the Mennonites of southern Russia, giving a lot of good information on their closing days (my family had already left by that time). However, the real reason to get this book (if you are so lucky) is for the photos. They are of course black-and-white, but they provide a fascinating look into a life now lost. The pictures show a people who are wealthy, happy, and dressed in modern clothes. The pictures each have an informative description, but for some reason these were placed at the end of the book. That is really a minor complaint, though.

So, if you are interested in the Mennonites of southern Russia, then I highly recommend that you obtain a copy of this book. It really is one of the best resources I have ever seen.

Too often most of the stuff people churn out about the era of the Russian Revolution is long on b.s. and short on facts. It is to often a re-hash of already over used scholarship based on hearsey---very seldom do you come across anything original. Heather Hogan's work is original.

Forging Revolution takes a look at the material basis of the Russian revolution. It looks at the the Russian industrial workers who made the revolution and at their workplaces.

I am hoping that Heather will carry on and do a part two covering 1914 to 1924. Possibly, adding some facts on Russian industrial technology in 1914; which may turn out to have been not as backwards as portrayed by other analysts.

Another thing that I found re-freshing about this book is that has no political axe to grind and one senses no slavophobic viewpoint all too common among authors; just an attempt to get at the facts!

Forging Revolution is serious political/economic/historical analysis!

This is a fantastic overview of the period from the Great Invasion to the reign of Ivan the Terrible. This is absolutely essential for the library of any scholar of Medieval Russia, and is accessible to those with even casual interest. The entire Longman History of Russia series presents an excellent overview of Russian history and this book in particular examines the impact of the Mongol conquest and the ascendency of the Muscovite princes.

This is a good book for a person who wants to have a good Russian cookbook without too much Russianess.
The authors are from the staff and the Interpertation Society of Fort Ross. The book also has some nice articles on life at the Fort. My favorite section is its description of the Russian stove or pech located in the Officials' Quarters.

This is a very long book (563 pages of text), but it may well be the definitive study of the 1937 court-packing controversy. Professor McKenna, emeritus University of Calgary, has devoted many years to the research and writing of the volume. Her research is comprehensive and impeccable, involving not only published sources but original sources such as manuscript collections, oral histories, and interviews. The author develops some fresh insights in discussing the Court's decisions adverse to the New Deal that prompted FDR's reaction, drawing upon recent research by Barry Cushman and Ted White. Ms. McKenna is extremely critical of FDR, not only because she contends his administration's sloppily drafted laws helped cause the problems that irked the Court, but also in terms of a cavalier legislative strategy that the author feels guaranteed defeat of the proposal in Congress. While perhaps better editing could have reduced the book's length [the author admits that 100 pages already had been edited out by the publisher], this book offers some valuable insights into the court-packing controversy and should be required reading for anyone seriously interested in this topic.

I have had the pleasure of visiting the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. If you ever have the chance to go, I highly recommend it. I spent three wonderful days in the Hermitage and would have been content going back every day for the rest of my vacation. Although some museums surpass the Hermitage in their collections (surprisingly few), none has fewer visitors per masterpiece. It was not unusual to be alone in a room of Van Goghs for 30 minutes at a time. The lightly guarded museum does not even have a security guard in every room. So the experience of the museum is a wonderfully intimate one.

If you never go to St. Petersburg, you must get and read this outstanding work about the French art from 1860 to 1950. Most of these works do not travel very much, so you won't see them otherwise. That would be a terrible shame, because many significant works, especially the Matisses and Gauguins, from this period are in the collection.

How did such a great French art collection find its way to Russia? That's an interesting story, and the book begins with a long essay about that. Although the Czar and the nobility had always collected art, this period of French art was not very appealing to them. A new merchant class had grown up, and they embraced advanced art from France (beyond the salon portraits the nobles commissioned) that became known as Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. After the Communists firmed up their hold on Russia, museums were consolidated and private collections were expropriated. You will enjoy seeing black and white photographs from the many private museums that these business people sponsored. The Shchukin and Morozov collections form an important base for this collection, as well as having provided important support for these French artists before they were well established.

In most art books, not enough of the reproductions are in color. This book is the exception. The reproductions are essentially all in color. There are 433 of them in color. They are also done in large sizes in many cases, which makes it easier to appreciate them.

The Hermitage is particularly rich is works by Matisse and Picasso, and these are presented in depth in this book. You will also find lots of Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Gauguin, Degas, Van Gogh, Rodin, and Bartholome. Outstanding examples of works by lesser known artists round out the collection in a way that will give you a different sense of the period than you get at the Musee D'Orsay or the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Albert Kostenevich is by far the world's authority on these works, as their primary curator for over 30 years. No one else has had nearly as much access or incentive to study them. He has written several fine, detailed essays that relate the works to each other and explain the works. In fact, this is better than going to the Hermitage because you would not have him at your side to explain things there.

And, naturally, if you have been to the Hermitage, this book makes a fabulous souvenir. Treat yourself today!

After enjoying this wonderful book, ask yourself, what other outstanding art collections have I not yet seen? Even if you cannot visit them, there may well be a book on the collection that you can order from Amazon.com!