Europe Books

This large, high quality book is an exhaustive reference of maps and related commentary regarding the various stages of Armenian history. It is a must have companion for any aspiring Armenologist and a nice coffee table book for all Armenian families.

This is an amazing atlas presenting in-depth covering of the long and turbulent history of Armenia. There are numerous publications on Armenian history, but they either contain plain maps, or plan text. This one not only presents an enormous number of extremely valuable and rare historical maps covering about three thousand years' history, but also presents in a very reader-friendly style unbiased historical facts associated with every single map. More than that, it presents invaluable statistical information, such as the population by regions. It also presents very intriguing architectural data. One of invaluable features of the book is the coverage of the Armenian genocide and the first republic.
This is more than a book - it is a great treasure that anyone interested in history in general and Armenian history in particular MUST have.

A comprehensive collection of cartographic information related to Armenian History and Geography. The acompaning text is also very informative.

Although it is published as an atlas, through both historical and contemporary maps, diagrams and text, Robert Hewsen manages to trace all the important cultural, military, geopolitical and geographic influences and changes within Anatolia and the Caucasian region. For those interested in Armenian, Roman, Persian and Ottoman/Trukish history, it serves as a comprehesive, yet easy source, for both scholar and non-scholar alike.

Robert Hewsen's "Armenia A Historical Atlas" is a true masterpiece. This atlas contains 278 detailed color maps that chronicle Armenian history from antiquity to the present day. The maps are meticulously accurate, very detailed and visually appealing. They also show precise topographic, political, religious, onomastic and historical details. There is a mixture of many regional maps, detailed local maps, city maps and even building plans.

Each map is accompanied by a very detailed overview of the time period and theme covered in the map. The work is a remarkable feat of research, drawing on countless primary and secondary sources in numerous languages.

The real strength of this work is that it chronicles, in both visual and written form, Armenian history from generation to generation over millennia. As such, this book is an invaluable resource for all histories that coincide with Armenian history, especially the regions of regions of Eastern Anatolia, Western Iran and the Caucasus. You will find numerous historical details about Byzantine, Persian, Eastern Christian, Seljuk, Georgian, Ottoman, Russian and Soviet histories not easily found in other historical atlases.

I highly recommend this atlas to anyone interested in Armenian history or in the history of this region.

Felice Vinci
The Baltic Origins of Homer's
Epic Tales:
The Iliad, the Odyssey, and
The Migration of Myth
(Inner Traditions, Rochester, VT) 2006
xiii+370 pages
ISBN 1-59477-052-2 (pb)

Critiqued by Frederic Jueneman

As perhaps an interesting preliminary aside, Roman author Felice Vinci's original 1995 book in Italian, Omero nel Baltico ("Homer in the Baltic"), was highlighted several years ago with a précis of his study of Homer's epic Iliad and Odyssey. Originally it was met with some skepticism; but hopefully since, it has captured the notice of some attentive classical scholars, who had no preconceived notions of their own, to further the study of Homeric lore. Now, finally, the full-scale English language version is widely available for critical analysis. (A contemporaneous Russian edition has also been recently published.) And, it might be amusingly mentioned that Vinci's popularity has since risen in Scandinavia, as these peoples were given a revitalized legacy, but his esteem has proportionately declined in Greece, since he has uncharitably taken away the cherished and hoary heritage of Homer from Aegean waters and moved it en masse into the Baltic. Notwithstanding, Vinci has done his homework remarkably well, as his extensive knowledge of Homeric Greek, as well as of ancient history and literature, comes through clearly.

The Foreword to this edition is by Joscelyn Godwin of Colgate University, a scholar who might be termed a student of esotericology (study of the occult), but who wouldn't be among my first choices as a preface author. Yet, his extensive knowledge of obscure esoteric practices and cabalistic lore from around the world puts him in a somewhat unique position. Such antiquated if otherwise unorthodox lore places almost all significant mythic events near the Pole, a premise that highlights the basic hypothesis of Vinci's repositioning of Homer's epic in the north.

This reviewer's only problem--albeit a minor one--is that Vinci has opted for literal, historic names and faces on what may otherwise be universal symbolisms, if not generic mythic themes. in Homer's epics, despite the fact that extensive Achaean and Trojan genealogies are sprinkled throughout these poems. Moreover, having been involved during an early editing process, this reviewer may also seem to have a conflict of interest in writing this critique; however, to be sure, there aren't many so intimately acquainted with Vinci's effort.

It should be said about both the Iliad and Odyssey, despite their heroic premise--if the discerning student of Homer hadn't otherwise noticed it--they are essentially Travelogues par excellence. But, even more than this, the Iliad is a compendium of peoples and cultures from various ports-of-call around the Baltic world, as outlined in exquisite detail in Book 2, "Catalogue of Ships," while the Odyssey itself more fancifully outlines economic trade routes taken by these intrepid Nordic seafarers, under the rubric of Ulysses' adventures, along with the constant dangers and other vicissitudes of wind, weather, and shoals that can trouble courageous mariners.

Homer seems to have efficiently used the Trojan War as the pivotal epic theme to highlight Baltic civilization, culture, and concomitant malignant unrest during the Sub-Boreal climatic plunge in the early second millennium BC, with the resulting armed conflicts for more habitable and sustainable territories, coupled with the ongoing quest for less frigid environments. These hostilities, coupled with the encroaching freeze, inexorably contributed to the eventual disintegration of Nordic society that finally impelled both their southward and their southeastward migrations to more temperate seaport climes. And this, in turn, was perhaps exacerbated by the eruption of Thera in the Mediterranean circa 1627 BC, as determined by dendrochronology (tree-ring dating). However, apparently not everyone did leave this increasingly Frigid Zone, as hardier peoples did remain in the northern climes to eke out an existence and evoke further Nordic legends and tales. Homer's epic is perhaps the only surviving classic from that epoch, as others may well have been lost. And even here, there seems to be the ghost of two Homers, as the Iliad and Odyssey are each stylistically distinct and dissimilar, as if they were orally relayed and later penned by different authors.

The literary artifact of the quest for the affections of Helen of Troy emphasizes one aspect of their regional cultural and moral values, but on this Vinci is silent except to comment that the heroine Sita is similarly abducted from her betrothed Rama in the Hindu Ramayana.

Further, these so-called "trade routes' in the Odyssey, are both a mnemonic of those sea passages and a verbal itinerary of what would otherwise have been forgotten and hence lost by these migrants. The superlative detail in Homer's epic lyrics are therefore not merely poetic hyperbole, but arrows-in-time of Mediterranean and Anatolian, if not, according to Vinci, Aryan, heritage, as well as tangible, albeit arcane literary directions to their former locales. That they were indeed lost and forgotten, it is our present task to remember and find them once again.

Vinci's reconstruction used the Greek biographer and moralist Plutarch (46-120 AD) as his initial guide for the identification of the Homeric Isle of Calypso, Ogygia (Stóra Dímun), off the coast of Norway in the Faeroe Islands. And, that these sea route mnemonics had also been forgotten and lost is noted in the writings of the geographer Strabo (63 BC-24 AD) and earlier historian Thucydides (471-400 BC), who thought Homer was a good storyteller but a rather poor geographer, where many Homeric islands are either missing or misplaced in the Mediterranean. Vinci attempts to amend these ancient erroneous impressions, as well as those of contemporary scholarship, with what might be termed geographical, morphological, and literary archeology. The actual physical digging and future confirmation of his arguments he would leave to the field archeologists. But, he has also left a pile of detritus for the philologists and historians, as there are still many linguistic and chronological problems.

One never knows what one might find while unearthing literary relics. Fossils are where you find them, as every paleontologist will acknowledge. Some plots of ground are more fertile than others, but the trick is in finding them. Hellenic authors and their present-day progeny have looked in vain in the Aegean for the likes of Homer's "long isle" Dulichium, "sandy" Pylos, Achilles' home of Phthia, and "white-cliffed" Cranae. They never had really existed in Mediterranean waters. But, they all have place in the Scandinavian world, which is where Vinci has discovered such vestiges of literary fossils, not only in Homer but also Saxo Grammaticus and the Icelandic Eddas, and parts of the Finnish epic Kalevala, among others.

The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus (1150-1220) recorded parallel legends in his Gesta Danorum (Danish History), which dovetail Nordic legends in many respects with the Homeric epics, where occasionally even the names look familiar. In like manner, both the poetic Elder Edda (12th century) and the Younger Edda, penned by Snorri Sturluson in the following 13th century, have such corresponding themes where Nordic gods play the analogous roles of the Homeric heroes. One wonders if Saxo and Snorri previously had read Homer, or if these were from independently homomorphic tales. In the Kalevala, Väinämöinen has a leg scar comparable to Ulysses' childhood injury; and similarly, one might compare the godlike smithys from the far north, notably Ilmarinen and Hephaestus, who fashioned armor for their respective Finnish and Achaean heroes. Moreover, such oblique references appear throughout Indo-European mythic literature, much further afield than either the Mediterranean or the Baltic.

Where Saxo outlines the history of the Danes in lower Scandinavia, principally Denmark, Homer--by way of Vinci--describes the rest of the Baltic world, although Saxo does look eastward and places the Hellespont in the Gulf of Finland, far from the Dardanelles in northwestern Turkey, which is most unlike the sea that Homer called "wide" and "boundless."

Vinci's repeated excursions into etymological concordances are fascinating, but not fully convincing at least until further evidence is forthcoming, despite his caveat that "considerations based on geography and climate are far more reliable than similarities in place-names." Nevertheless, the poetic clustering of Homeric homonyms in names and places from both the Mediterranean and the Baltic worlds frames a persuasive argument.

His occasional references to the loss of the linguistic element "v"--the digamma--from ancient pre-Homeric Greek could well be such an etymological fossil and a potential linguistic springboard for additional appraisal. (The digamma had fallen into disuse except for an Aeolian dialect.) For example, Livy records the flight of Antenor with his Eneti allies after the fall of Troy, which might account for the Etrurian founding of a Veneti seaport colony later known to us as Venice, although the recorded history of this city just dates from our own 5th century. Similarly, the missing digammate prefix in the word "Achaean" would make "Vachaean" sound like "Viking." It's unfortunate that Vinci's protracted discussion of the linguistic significance of the digamma was edited out of this edition. However, there's lots more room for further philological study, to add to what has already been done long before Vinci came on the scene.

It has also come to the attention of this reviewer that Etruscan tombs in northern Italy frequently commemorate themes from both the "Trojan War" and the "Seven Against Thebes," an otherwise unaccountable provenance unless both ancient Troy and Thebes were originally located in the north. Interestingly, to confound this puzzle further, Vinci adds, "Thebes was not an Achaean city and did not take part in the Trojan War." This makes one wonder why the Etruscans venerated such funereal encomiums if their forebears did not participate in the Achaean-Trojan conflict. Even so, Etrurian origins are thought by received wisdom to be formerly from northern regions. In addition, Vinci does identify today's quaint Finnish village of Toija near the coast in southwestern Finland as being the putative site of the mythical Ilium of Homer, far from the Anatolian site at Hissarlik on the shores of Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean that was uncovered by Heinrich Schliemann circa 1873.

In the Odyssey Homer describes an immense "flowing away" (ápsoros) current plowing silently through the ocean as Potamós Okeanós (literally "Blue River") that has all the earmarks of the Atlantic Gulf Stream, of which we presumably attribute its discovery to Benjamin Franklin circa 1770. The 8th century BC poet Hesiod had also remarked on it, which leads one to think that much of Homer has been swept aside by scholarly oversight when their attention is more-or-less rigidly confined to the Mediterranean. It also augurs for an Atlantic voyage of Ulysses to more distant and exotic ports-of-call, which may well have been as far west as Iceland, Greenland, or--heavens forfend!--the eastern seaboard of the Americas.

The vast plains of Homer's world do not reside in the rocky crags and spires of the Aegean; the terrain of the Iliad speaks of rolling hills and secluded seaports, specifically the harborage of Homeric Sparta, which otherwise is located far inland in the Mediterranean Peloponnese. Nor, for that matter, the non-Greek Homeric sources of tin, copper, iron, and particularly amber, although scattered artifacts have been found at Mycenae and other Mediterranean sites, despite similarly scattered ore sites in Anatolia, in and around the Black Sea. In the northland there are ancient copper mines in the Shetlands and tin ore in Cornwall, with immense iron deposits found in northern Sweden on the Gulf of Bothnia, and of course amber in areas rich in conifers. Magnetite from Sweden may have been the origin of ancient but crude compasses, which guided these daring ancient mariners through foggy seas across the ocean to Iceland, Greenland, and even the Americas for exploration and additional resources. Until the collapse of the warm Atlantic climatic phase prior to the second millennium, such seafaring across an oceanic expanse would certainly be possible, if not probable, during more temperate meteorological conditions.

So too, found in the far north, are prized gold and silver, which adorned the breastplates and shields fashioned by the gods for the Achaeans, perhaps along with Plato's celebrated orichalcum. Some of the world's finest gold, as well as silver, are found in Lapland in the northern extreme of Finland. Curiously, the precious orichalcum of Plato's fabulous Atlantis may turn out to be the platinum mined in the Urals. But, these minerals are less easily accessed today as they might have been during a pre-glacial Boreal phase--relatively ice free--several thousand years ago.

The climate of the northland underlies the Odyssey portrayals of "close-fitting" garments and long tunics, wrapped around "like the peel on a dry onion." And, in the Iliad, we similarly read of "thick furs" and "thick cloaks and blankets." All such descriptions are of Bronze Age clothing as found in Scandinavian burial tumuli, even as to the golden shoulder buckle worn by Ulysses to fasten his cloak.

Wind, fog, and rain also afflicted the combatants during the remarkably short season of the Achaean-Trojan skirmishes, where often one warrior could not see another. It should be said that the Iliad itself actually describes just a month-long finale of the ten-year hostilities over what appears to be an ongoing turf war, disregarding the overlay of Homer's plot theme in the quest for the satisfaction of honor and Helen's return to the court of Agamemnon. The constant references to inclement weather, and even the occasional allusions to ice and snow, all seem to denote unrelenting characteristic atmospheric conditions in the northlands. It also appears to this reviewer that the Achaeans wanted to once-and-for-all bring the economic dominance of Troy to its knees. In fact, the artifice of the "Trojan Horse," described only in the more imaginative Odyssey, may be an early description of a siege engine to breech the timbered walls of Troy.

The long winter nights of the polar climes north of the Arctic Circle do not rule out anything significant in the underlying themes of myth, where, for example, Persephone spends her half-year in the gloomy company of her husband Hades, brother of Zeus. Or, where Ulysses drifts northward with the Potamós Okeanós from the Isle of Circe to the Cimmerian land of Styx to consult with the ghost of Tiresias, the erstwhile king of Thebes. During Arctic winters we have both the light of the Moon during its periodic phases to illuminate the tundra, and the sometimes-spectacular aurora borealis as the porphyréen îrin (colored arch) spread across the heavens by Zeus for the aesthetic benefit of mortals. Nightfall in the Arctic does not mean it precludes activity, mythological or actual.

But, when the Sun's light finally begins to gradually reappear through the recurring twilights of spring, Homer speaks of "revolving dawns" that can only be observed in the far north, not in continental Europe nor the Mediterranean. Furthermore, the curious hapax legomenon of Homer--amphilyke nyx--is a linguistic fossil referring to the "dimly-lit night" during which Achaeans and Trojans fought during the day and throughout the Arctic dusk and into the following day, a phenomenon only experienced during early or late summer months in far northern climes. In another instance, King Nestor of Pylos recommended that campfires should surround each Achaean encampment; but, without any further clarification by Homer, most scholars assume that this advice was for discouraging potential Trojan infiltrators or from a surprise attack. However, according to classicist Alberto DiPippo of Univ. of Santa Clara, since there's no dark nighttime per se in far northern summers, such well-placed campfires would more realistically discourage the abominable insect infestation that usually plague such humid polar regions during the summertime.

This brief critique is but a small part of what Vinci has laid out for the reader, since we haven't even touched on what these ancients ate or drank, or did for their amusement, or even as to the ultimate migration of the Achaeans as ancestors of the Mycenaeans and later Hellenes, and who may even have been the personification of the fabled Peoples of the Sea.

And finally, to indulge in a reminiscence: While editing the first draft of this book some years ago, it was then presciently written "...this is a Homeric world that was once almost irretrievably lost, but at long last has now been found where it has always been."

Felice Vinci wrote this fascinating book in Italian in 1995 (he is a nuclear engineer and classics buff), and the book was translated into English and into Russian in 2006. The translations have led to growing interest in Vinci's work.

Vinci's main thesis is that The Illiad and the Odyssey of Homer took place in the Baltic, not the Mediterranean. Reading his book, and an excellent commentary by William Mullen of Bard College in the current issue of "Culture + Travel", makes re-reading these two old favorites a mind blowing experience.

Suspend your disbelief for a few paragraphs. Archeologists agree that invaders from the north founded the Greek Mycenaean kingdoms in the 16th century B.C.E. Linguists believe that languages from Greek to Sanskrit belong to an ancestral group called the Proto-Indo-Europeans that migrated throughout Europe before the second millennium B.C.E. Climatologists believe that 4500 years ago the planet as a whole was 4 degrees Celsius warmer, the so-called Post-Glacial Climatic Optimum.

What is not agreed is Vinci's claims that these groups "re-mapped" their new homes in the Mediterranean using the place names of the Baltic in their new homes, much as the Dutch and then the English named a certain island "New Amsterdam" and then "New York." By Mullen's count, "out of 390 place names in the Homeric epics, Vinci finds 321 northern counterparts in the text, individually and in relation to each other."

Homer often mentions snow and fog, his characters wore heavy clothes, the main battle in the "Iliad" takes place between two noons, separated by a starless "white night". Climate changes over the centuries, but were there white nights in Turkey many centuries ago?

In Vinci's approach, Troy is Toija in Finland, a town whose topography matches Homer's description precisely, including a long ridge that overlooks the plain "like an eyebrow". The Turkish name for the standard tourist destination is called "Hissarlik" -- not much like "Troy" -- and is not located on a "boundless sea" as Homer described it.

A puzzling part of the "Odyssey" is Homer's description of Atlas holding up "the great pillars that sustain Earth and Heaven." Neither the Rock of Gibraltar nor the Atlas Mountains in Africa look much like pillars. But two of the Faroe Islands, Kunoy and Kalsoy, are parallel slabs of stone, with only a narrow sea lane between them.

Home for Odysseus was Ithaca, which Homer describes as a low, flat island and the westernmost of four islands. In Greece, Ithaca is hilly and the westernmost of three islands, not four. West of Copenhagen, however, there is a low lying, rainy island, the fourth and westernmost of a small chain, fitting Athena's description: "Here is grain surpassing even a god's telling ... All kinds of woods, and watering places, the year round."

So, what's the truth? Well, we know that Homer was probably not one person but actually a series of story tellers, singing and re-telling their great tales over many centuries and in many different places. We probably will never know for sure if the tales could have taken place in the Baltic, but Vinci's theories add a wonderful gloss to both stories. Is it impossible that the invaders from the north carried both their singers and their tales south to the Mediterranean?

Read Vinci's book and then re-read Homer's two great classics with a new appreciation.


Robert C. Ross 2008

For those who have actually read and pondered the Homeric sagas, many difficulties present themselves in trying to visualize the battles, the geography and the scenery when compared to the eastern areas of the Mediterranean Sea. In this book, Felice Vinci proposes and very well defends the seemingly outrageous idea that the events described in the epics actually transpired in the Baltic Sea. He contends that these events took place at the end of a particularly warm period, and with the dropping temperatures, the actors of the Homeric dramas fled south and occupied the warmer Mediterranean. Transposing the names of their former cities to their new homes, once things settled down, the epics were put to writing.

This is a bold and exciting assertion. This book explains and defends the premise very well. I strongly encourage people to read and ponder. It is a rare thing when something this bold and of this scope can be conceived and propounded with such dignity and vigor.

Put down whatever you are reading today and get this book!

Making comparisons of climate and geography, including place names, between Homer's ancient Greek classics and the Baltic Sea coastal areas, Vinci engages in intriguing, fascinating, but also well-substantiated speculation on the bases of Homer's works. Eons ago when the epics originated, climate was warmer in the Baltic region. Though it was not as warm as it commonly is in the eastern Mediterranean lands including Greece, Vinci finds references to this one-time warmer Northern European climate in the Odyssey, for example, with its frequent mention of cooler, damper weather often forming mist. Ulysses, the main character of the Odyssey, is more like a Viking seafarer than a typical Greek sailor. Vinci even finds many references in the Baltic region to the Trojan War poetically recorded in Homer's "Iliad." The link between the Baltic region and ancient Greece is strengthened, though not confirmed, by the migrations of Northern peoples to areas of Asia Minor. As Vinci recognizes, "further archaeological corroboration" by experts in different fields would be necessary to confirm his theory. But in pursuing it, this work covers many little-known but interesting and colorful aspects of the ancient European world and also enhances appreciation of the literary style and the cultural material and sources of the works.

It is a curious fact that the geographical descriptions furnished in Homer's Iliad (the story of the siege of Troy) and Odyssey (the story of Odysseus's journey home after Troy's fall) do not easily match the assumed Mediterranean topography. Various prehistorians, historians, archeologists, and linguists have expressed their consternation about Homer's geographical details. It was Plutarch (46-120 A.D.), who in his essay "The face that appears in the lunar orb," unequivocally states that Goddess Calypso's island of Ogygia mentioned in the Odyssey was situated "five days' sail from Britain, toward the west."

Vinci, a nuclear engineer by profession and a passionate classicist by vocation, took Plutarch's statement as a serious clue to search for the geography of the Homeric epics in the North Atlantic rather than the Mediterranean. He has amassed a mountain of evidence in favor of the Baltic origins of both Greek epics. Similarities between the mythologies of the North and the Mediterranean have often been pointed out. Vinci argues that a deterioration in climate around 2000 B.C. caused some of the Scandinavian peoples to migrate south. As time went by, the epics were claimed by the Greeks for their own Mediterranean culture and environment.

What about Schliemann's Troy? Although this intrepid explorer undoubtedly discovered the Mycenean civilization, his claim to have unearthed the city of Troy has never been universally accepted. Already Strabo ( ) denied that the "ancient Ilium ( Troy)" was to be found in Anatolia. A better candidate for the Homeric Troy than the Anatolian town of Hisarlik, excavated by Schliemann, is possibly the Finnish town of Toija, as suggested by Vinci.

Vinci's audacious rewriting of Homeric culture and mythology is a creative proposition, which deserves to be further investigated. He has my full vote of confidence.

[...]

This book ranks amongst the very best military history I have ever read. It incorporates a detailed account of Charles XII's campaign that led his army deep into Ukraine, the action at Poltava, clear portraits of the main actors and moving accounts of what happened to so many of the ordinary Swedish soldiers (the wealth of information that the writer has for such an old battle is really astonishing). As it says on the cover, it pulls no punches about fighting. It makes an excellent starting point for delving into warfare of the era. I was especially impressed by the descriptions of the artillery fire and its consequences, the terrible fate of the wounded, the sacrifices made by the Swedish soldiers in order to save their king and the paradox ethics of warfare at that time. The book is mainly focused on the Swedish side with the Russians mentioned in a general and not so analytical way. Thus the subtitle on the cover should rather be "Potlava and the Demise of the Swedish Empire".

Firstly it must be said that this narrative is told from a distinctly Swedish perspective. The Russian forces are largely faceless and there nowhere near the same degree of detail about the Russian forces of Peter the Great as there is those of Charles the XII.

Englund starts with detailed analysis of force organisation. How did such a small country with a combined population of a little over a Million become the major power in Northern Europe? Some clues are found in the revolutionary way of raising the Swedish Army and the skilful leadership of Charles XII. The Swedes were also not the lovable pastey-faced ideoluges of peace and understanding as we know them today; they were ruthless in their suppression of enemy popultions and their rapacious behaviour in cowing almost all of central Europe. Moreover they highly motivated by territorial incentives. Peter the Great's Russia was unfortunate enough to be the nearest and most logical enemy to attack with Sweden traditionally controlling almost all of the modern-day Baltic states as an advanced glacis to both protect and launch offensives against Russia.

Englund dwells very little on the political motives for war and plunges right in with the march of the Armies from Livonia and modern-day Poland into the heart of Russia. We follow this army as Russia eventually draws is deeper and deeper into Sweden trading land for time and letting the elements of Russia eat away at the invader. In the hot summer sun the Battle of Poltava is really the only military option that Charles had and although it may have been successful one is always amazed at the plan to battle through a line of heavily armed forts, reform on the other side and then wheel to attack the main Russian force, also heavily entrenched. But Englund gives us a breath of adventure and dash in the movements of the Swedes and we hope that they will somehow pull if off...

The fighting is as desperate and intense as in any war, but as with the Germans over 300 yrs later, there is a particularly frightening shadow of being isolated and cut off by the Russians with no hope of reuniting with your main force.... all the time being deep in the Russian hinterland.

We follow the army as it turns and tries its getaway. Compressed within the ends of the Dnieper it eventually gives way, but our redoubtable Charles XII escapes. Englund leaves us there, there is nothing more about the remarkable adventure of Charles from that point, or his further attempts to dominate Europe, all crushed eventually. Poltava ended a 100 year dominance of the Swedes as the greatest land army in Europe, unbeatable until Poltava, but never really challenging the heartland of Russia.

One word: excellent. Wish more books of that level of quality were written and published.

Englund has written a detailed history of a key battle fought between Sweden and Russia in 1709. Although an interesting book it often becomes bogged down in its detail, both in terms of statistics and in terms of its description of the battle. The book is also limited in that it's told exclusively from the Swedish standpoint. There is little, if any, information from the Russian perspective that may have given more insight into how and why the battle evolved as it did.

However, the book is not without merit. The description of the Swedish army preparing for battle and its later disintegration as attrition and the fog of war took over, is key in understanding why the Swedes lost and allows insight into the impact of the fog of war. It also allows insight into how quickly that factor becomes real once a battle has been joined. Englund does an excellent job of describing the events leading up to the battle especially as they apply to the condition of the Swedish army on the eve of Poltava and its impact on why the Swedish king chose to fight when and how he did.

Despite the book's subtitle, Englund does little to link Poltava to the rise of Russia. Although it appears this is a generally accepted truth, he does not put the battle in the context of the Great Northern War, which didn't end until 1721.

This book was originally published in 1988. Its success took everyone by surprise, including the author, then a freshly baked historian at Uppsala University, Sweden. It has retained its bestseller status in Sweden ever since. Now, this excellent book about an important, but comparatively unknown event in world history, has been reissued in the U.S.
Peter Englund follows in the footsteps of Edward Gibbon, who taught that good history should also be good literature. The direct inspiration for this book was John Prebble's 1963 classic book Culloden

Above all others that I have read (and that about includes them all)Finegan's books are absolutely essential while planning (and during) a trip to Scotland or Ireland. My trips to both countries were enhanced immensely by these wonderful texts. Finegan is a great writer in the old style--passionate, elegant, grandiose in the best possible sense. His enthusiasm and love for the game, the royal and acient game, are infectious and tempts one to follow in his footsteps when he advises, for example, to deplane in Shannon, drive the hour to Lahinch, and strike the first shot up that glorious sandhill even before one has checked in The Greenbrier Inn or some such place. I still relive, years after my trips, the great times on the brilliant links by reading Finegan, and dream of going back.

As others have said this is a great book to have if you are going to take a golfing vacation to Scotland. Mr. Finegan provides wonderful information about many diferent course. I enjoyed reading it before I went and even more after I returned and played a number of the courses. Would love to return some day to play the ones we missed!!!

My husband and I are planning our once-in-a- lifetime pilgrimage to Scotland in July 1999. So far, this is the best and most comprehensive book we have read regarding the courses recommeded to us by our travel agent. Other books only highlighted the most famous courses (British Open quality) and left out many of the "less famous" but equally charming golf courses available to the public.

A friend gave me this book as a gift just before my first golf trip to Scotland. I played 10 of the 40 courses he reviewed. I read the entire book before the trip but enjoyed it much more after having played the courses. Many great tips in the book, as well. For example, we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in Gullane and the author mentioned a restaurant there which he considered the best in Scotland. He is correct and we would have missed this wonderful experience without his book. His descriptions of many of the golf holes on the courses he covered were just great. For the golfer who enjoys the British Open and the Ryder Cup, this book will be delicious.

Blasted Heaths is a true gem of a book. James Finegan literally knows the country - its golf, its people, its nature - like the back of his hand. You get expert, finely crafted, hole-by-hole reviews of over sixty courses. As a added bonus, there are restaurant reviews and lodging suggestions.

The book is divided into geographical regions and is helpful in helping you lay out your agenda. Sure, you know to play St. Andrews, Troon and Turnberry, but the book helps you go beyond the usual brand names.

An example of how 'Blasted Heaths' can pay off: Gleneagles is quite the amazing golfing experience, but perhaps a bit too steep in the wallet for this 20+ handicapper. Finegan points out a course right next door (Auchterarder G. C.) that, while certainly not in Gleneagles class, has a 'handful of first-rate holes' at about one-third the cost. A great recommendation! Not the holy, near-religious experience Finergan associates with Royal Dornoch, Cruden Bay, and Machrihanish and others, but it shows that the book can be used for all levels (skill and monetary) of golf.

My one recommendation (seconded by Finergan) is that you spend a couple of days in St. Andrews and soak up the environment. There's enough golf to keep you there for 3+ days, and the town itself has a real university feel and exudes charm and history. I suggest staying out of the hotels and setting up in one the many cozy guest houses a block or two from The Old Course. My wife and I stayed at the Craigmore House (ph: 334-472-142). You'll need a reservation, but it's well worth your planning ahead.

Best take out: Sisini in Trasteverte three blocks from Ponte Cavour. Best,astounding pizza, pasta. No drinks. Busy all day and night. Friendly, fast, very cheap. Try pizza with arugula.
This is not in Cheap Eats but should be.
Best pasta: L'Archetta near Pantheon, on east side of Via Corso near Trevi Fountain. Magnificent spaghetti.

see kosher bakery by main synagogue. Delicious baked goods-ask for 'pizza' a soft biscotti filled with crystallized fruit.

Going to Florence, Rome, or Venice? Like to eat well without breaking the bank? Buy this book. Went on my honeymoon to all three. Brought this book along, and we ate like kings, but paid like paupers. You can't go wrong with any of the restaurant,cafes, etc. suggested. Be aware, however, that the maps are hard to follow for Venice (probably because Venice is such a maze).

My friends and I recently went on spring break to Rome and Florence and we took along the cheap eats book. We had the best food of our lives on a college student's budget. Everything in the book was accurate, in our experience, and even the picky eaters among us were satisfied. We knew exactly what to expect at each place we went, which made things much easier. We actually met Sandra Gustafson at a restaurant in Florence where she was updating her entries for a new edition!

My wife and I have used this book in Rome on two occasions and were extremely satisfied both times. I believe there is now a revision appropriately entitled "Great Eats in Italy". Both books cover Rome, Florence, and Venice. The book is fairly accurate about the menus so you know what to expect (where to go or not to go based on your preferences). The meals are not cheap. They are reasonable. I think the author does herself a diservice but using "cheap eats" in the title of the book. Cheap is not relevant with this book. These are very good places to eat at reasonble prices. You can a vacation just sampling her recommendations. We let other people borrow this book from us when they go to Italy... I bought her other books for Paris, and Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, and Seville). She has another one for Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. Keep 'em coming!!!

We just returned from Florence, Venice and Rome. Everyone in our group raved about Cheap Eats recommendations. The food was always good and the price reasonable. The added bonus was a more comfortable setting and local atmosphere. We are more at ease with a casual, friendly atmosphere rather than stuffy, overly formal environments.

It will be love at first sight! This lovely little book is a must if you are traveling from your armchair or in person. The photography is wonderful and you get the feel of how special shopping is in France. Don't leave this little diamond at home - read it while sipping a cup of coffee at your local Starbucks or on the plane before landing in France.

even if it's only window shopping.

My wife and I love travel and we have had the privilege in shopping in many of the great cities of the world: New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Rome, Milan, Houston, and many many others. Paris is without equal for shopping in a number of respects: elegance, beauty, quality, knowledge of staff and the pure joy of seeing fine products in a beautiful setting.

We both admit that we are sometimes a little intimidated, and frankly it's only in Paris we have that feeling. Partly it's the attitude of the sales people -- worldly, fashionable, speaking impeccable French. Partly it's our awe that the French seem to have discovered how to imbue even the simplest product with a level of sophistication.

Chic Shopping Paris is a passport to discovering the joys of shopping in that great city. The photographs by Alison Harris are beautiful -- the book is almost a postcard collection of beautiful products beautifully displayed. The text is descriptive, educated, loving even -- Rebecca Perry Magniant proves her learning not only in this sampling of her work, but also on her frequently updated website. If the following passage resonates with you to any degree, visit the website, and carefully consider buying this beautiful little book:

Nicole Lehmann
19, rue de Turenne, 4th arr.
01 42 77 57 21
Métro: Saint-Paul
Tuesday-Saturday 11am-7pm, Sunday 2pm-7pm, closed Monday
nlparis.com

Nicole Lehmann's new shop just a block away from the Place des Vosges is small but elegant, the perfect setting for showing off her luxurious purses. Each of her bags is entirely handmade, with attention to fine details, in high-quality leathers and skins with metal accents. The bags come in three basic styles: the cabas (tote), the pochette (clutch), and the besace (messenger). Each comes with either long or short straps and in different finishes (grained or smooth leather, suede, alligator, ostrich). Some have unique details such as a long chain strap that can be removed and worn as a necklace; another style has a slim leather closure strap that is interchangeable with straps of other colors, and any of the straps can be worn as a bracelet. A small line of jewelry, cuff links, and belts rounds out the collection."

And if this book doesn't interest you, at least visit the publisher's website; The Little Bookroom publishes a number of delightful books that will enhance your travel experiences.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Travel through the best of the insider's Paris in 208 beautifully written and photographed pages. In concise, but through narratives, Ms. Magniant brings the best of Paris to your mind while Allison Harris' photos are each a well composed tableau of the individuals shop's wares. From wall designs to unique notions to toys, antique printed matter, designer clothers, jewelery, perfumes, all manner of foodstuffs, and other off-the-beaten-track treasures- if you can't find something of great interest to you, don't see Paris-see your doctor!

The perfect book for exploring Paris via shopping! The book is divided by neighborhoods for easy reference. The descriptions are extremely helpful and the photographs could be postcards of Paris themselves. The small size of the book will fit into your purse for easy access. I read this on the subway before I went shopping and couldn't wait to start shopping.

I travel to France and especially Paris often and love to have an insiders look at shopping places that visitors often don't know about. I can't wait to get there in October and use my little green book to check out some of the places in it. Love having the email addresses, phone numbers and the many pictures. Thank you Rebecca!

I highly recommend this translation of Joinville and Villehardouin.

The translator has taken care to translate these works into lucid, contemporary language without dumbing down the writing. Her work has paid off, providing a readable and lively edition still suitable for scholarly review.

Whether you are reading these for enjoyment, personal interest, or academic reasons, this translation is a good one.

I had to read this book in my Medieval and Ranasance Class at OSU. This book gives a first person view of what the Crusades were like. My teenage son has read the book several times and used for several research papers in high school.

These are both excellent accounts of the crusades. Villehardouin proves insightful in what he does not say. A small army of crusaders faces unbelievable odds in Constantinople and yet somehow they conquer and hold this territory. It brings up the question of whether the conquest was an accident or a conspiracy, and a reader can answer that question through careful reading. There are other books wholly committed to this argument of conspiracy vs. accident.

Joinville gives an equally appreciable account of a crusade, this time a failed attempt in Egypt by Saint Louis. Joinville is an author that gives a huge amount of information. The integrity of Louis is apparent as well as the mistakes made by the crusaders (Joinville rarely places direct blame of any failure on Louis, noting instead Louis's brother and his failures.)

This is a well introduced book and is not difficult to read in my opinion.

Chronicles of the Crusades is a chronicle of the Crusades from two of the senior participants who took part in two of the Crusades. The book covers the descriptions of the fourth and the seventh crusades as seen through the eyes of Geoffroy De Villehardouin (who took part in the fourth crusade) and Jean De Joinville (who took part in the seventh crusade). The two chronicles were translated for this book by Margaret Shaw. The book was published in 1963 around the time of her death. The two chronicles give us a look into the two crusades as chronicled through the eyes of two important noblemen of their time. This in itself will taint the purity of the chronicle. Chronicles such as these lay out the justifications for the crusades and tend to gloss over the blemishes. These two are no different. They were written to glorify the Crusaders and surely the writers would not put on ink anything that would later detract from their names. These chronicles do an excellent job of showing how the two chroniclers thought and how they wanted these two crusades remembered. When this book is read this should be kept in mind. The average crusader was a mixture of those driven by greed and religious extremists. The crusaders were allowed to plunder the lands they conquered. In today's terms they were allowed to take war trophies, thus stealing from the inhabitants of the land. They were barbaric in their means of taking the land and the raping of women was allowed, if the women were not of the Christian faith. The fourth crusade received condemnation on its behavior when the Christian city of Constantinople was sacked. This was due to the crusaders raping of the women. This of course is not pointed out by Villehardouin. The chroniclers mention a little of the plunder, but do not mention anything else. Though the chroniclers are quick to point out the cruelty of the Saracens. Margaret Shaw refers to these two chronicles as being the most reliable accounts of the crusades written in French. I would have to disagree that these chronicles should be taken as completely accurate. Joinville refers to Prestor John as if he was a person who actually existed, thus showing that his accounts are not strictly cemented in fact. The chronicles give an overview of the crusades and do not go into much detail on the equipment used and the everyday life of the average crusader. This book is a good book to show the chroniclers thoughts and perspectives but if you are trying to get an accurate picture of what happened during these crusades I would look into other books as well. Such books that describe the opposing views as seen from the Muslim side and other books that can give specifics on how the crusaders lived and their equipment could help in understanding these crusades better. I am giving this book 5 stars because it does accurately convey it's title. It does cover the Chronicles of the Crusades.

The two accounts in _Chronicles of the Crusades_ provide readers with fascinating accounts of the 4th and 7th crusades. Villehardoun's observations of the sack of Constantinople leave some questions regarding whether it was a conspiracy to destroy the city or not; ultimately it is up to the reader to decide... It does, however, provide a window into 12th century warfare and politics.

Joinville's chronicle of the 7th crusade into the Holy Land was similarly fascinating, providing more information about a European's impressions of the Near East and Christian-Islamic conflict than Villehardoun. I much preferred Joinville for this reason. Together, both accounts provide a well-rounded history of the time and place - a tremendously interesting read for professional and armchair historians alike.

I began with a prejudice. Winston Churchill is one of my greatest heroes.
Another prejudice. Martin Gilbert is also one of my favorite authors. Gilbert writing on Churchill could be nothing but wonderful.
The book was up to my expectations, and then some. I have read volumes and volumes on the life and activities of Winston Churchill, but found many new facts in insights. I was totally pleased and highly reccomend this book to any one . Admirer or critic.
Herschel Sennett

Winston Churchill, for as long as he can remember, has been connected with Jews. Coming from a family with close Jewish ties, though not through blood, he has always had friends from this ethnicity. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill was often rebuked by the English aristocrats about his many Jewish friends. Learning about the biblical characters in his school, he was often fascinated with their stories and with their lives.

Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer, draws on letters, speeches, newspaper articles and other resources to provide a clear depiction of his friendship with one of the most persecuted races in the world: the Jews.

Reading this book was very eye opening. I have always heard about Churchill through his famous quotes often featured at graduations and other ceremonies-and through those I had developed a certain respect for him. However, after reading this book, I consider him one of the greatest men who ever lived. Sure he had faults; he would be the first to admit that. But what set him apart was the fact that he was willing to stand up for what he believed in, even when popular opinion was against it. He was an ardent supporter for a Jewish state and played a key role in bringing that to pass. Many considered his love for Jews one of his major faults; however, he was not swayed by what others thought him.

Martin Gilbert's portrayal of Churchill and his relationship with Jews is very enlightening. It explores this often-neglected topic, captivating the readers from the very beginning as it traces his first Jewish friendships to his Jewish friends he had during the time he was Prime Minister. I really enjoyed this book that also includes photographs that chronicle his relationship with them.

Armchair Interviews says: Highly recommended to any history buff!

This is an exciting account of Churchill's relationship to the Jewish people from the earliest phase of his political career. He developed a strong bond with the developing state of Israel, and it seems unlikely, without his brilliant supportive speeches in parliament for several decades that we would have a state of Israel today. Gilbert does a superb job of bringing us up to date on Churchill's contributions, from the time of the Balfour declaration to Israel Statehood in 1948.

The 20th Century produced many astounding men, many of them evil. One of the few great democrats of the age was Winston S. Churchill. Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Churchill, has produced one enthralling volume after another.

Churchill's involvement with public life and, more importantly, his impact upon it never ceases to amaze. To read of everything Churchill was involved with - some of the most momentous events of the century that still reverberate today - staggers the imagination.

In this volume, Gilbert examines Churchill's relationship with Jews in general and his involvement with the Balfour Declaration, Zionism and the creation of the State of Israel.

Churchill's first 'political involvement in Jewish concerns" occurred in 1904 when he stood for election for Manchester North-West, where a third of the population was Jewish.

From that point on, Churchill's career often came into contact with Jewish concerns or, conversely, concerns about the Jews. He long supported the aspirations for a Jewish homeland. He protested mistreatment of the Jews by the Russians, Germans and others. He was deeply offended by the radical Jewish terrorists who sought to hasten the creation of Israel. He believed there was a need to turn Jews toward Zionism and away from Bolshevism.

Churchill, indeed, considered himself to be a Zionist.

Churchill's humanism, tolerance, foresight, classic liberalism and just plain decency are all on display in this wonderful volume. By concentrating on this one small aspect of Churchill's many interests, the magnificence of the man is brought into sharp relief. Others, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ernest Bevan suffer in comparison to Churchill in this particular area.

All in all, this is a wonderful book, typical of Gilbert's skill as a researcher, historian and writer. It is also necessary reading for anyone who wishes to be more fully informed about the seemingly intractable problems we face in the area today.

Jerry

This smart, well researched and readable book makes an often controversial subject easy to understand and easier still to be sympathetic towards. Famed author and historian, Sir Martin Gilbert offers us through direct sources, a simple yet profound road map in which we see Mr. Churchill navigate his way through his many relationships with Jews, and those opponents in his own political party, as well as the minefield which is Middle East politics. I for one, though a student of the Middle East never knew just how close Mr. Churchill was to the Jewish people, Zionism, and his continued support through out the decades for a Jewish state in the region.

"Some people like Jews and some do not, but no thoughtful `person' can doubt the fact that they are beyond all question the most formidable and most remarkable race which has ever appeared in the world" Winston Churchill

I strongly recommend this book for your reading pleasure, education, and enlightenment. It is an outstanding historical document.

I greatly enjoyed reading this book. It not only held, but increased, my interest as I progressed through the story. "The Major" is a very credible author, and I had no trouble picturing what he described in my mind's eye. My understanding of how American soldiers in WW II fought the campaign in Normandy is now greatly enhanced. Good show!

My mother, Mrs. Glover S. Johns, Jr., who recently celebrated her 84th birthday, called me today to advise that a friend had just stopped by her home in Austin, TX. with word of this site and the fine reviews of "The Clay Pigeons of St.Lo", written by my father Colonel Glover S. Johns, Jr. We would like to thank those of you who have treasured this book - a labor of love, pride, dedication and, at times, agony - as much as we have. I want to take this opportunity to salute and thank all those who served with my father and those have shown support for my mother since the Colonel's death in 1976. My father lived "The Clay Pigeons of St.Lo" and gave the book what he gave battle and his men: his very best. It is, indeed, a timeless and monumental work - monumental in its testimonials, monumental in its anonymity, and monumental in its unheralded magnitude. Lee Johns, son of Colonel G.S. Johns, Jr. - one of America's finest Fighting Sons.

This is the best single book on American infantry fighting in World War II that I have read. Then Major Glover Johns recounts his personal participation in one of the toughest fights our GIs faced; the struggle through the hedgerows from the D-Day beaches to St. Lo. More importantly, Johns' book demonstrates the critical importance battlefield communications played in achieving victory. As a Battalion Commander in the 29th Infantry Division, Johns' ability to manage his units was directly related to how fast phone lines could be restrung after each mortar attack or how successful his radio operators were in linking to artillery support units. Despite his relative remoteness from the foxholes, you feel every attack and suffer every loss as if you were shoulder to shoulder with the heroes who defeated Hitler's vaunted 2nd Parachute Division.

This isn't rehashed third-hand research, this is war as it was fought by one of our best combat commanders. Read it.

The book deals only with the time frame from when Col. Johns (then Major) inherits the 1st of the 115th until they capture St. Lo. During this time period, we get to see how hedgerow combat was (from the battalion commanders perspective), how German Fallshirmjagers fought, and the pressures higher command applies to their combat organizations. While Col. Johns was a battalion commander, this book does give a feel for front line combat, but no where near as directly as books such as Currah! or The Forgotten Soldier.

Col. Johns tells the story of how the 1st of the 115th (his unit) led the way to St Lo. In his telling, Col. Johns uses the third person familiar to describe the events his unit experienced rather than a first person account. This is very refreshing because story takes on more of a story tellers point of view rather than that of a person telling us how great they were.

This book is a very good re-telling of Col. Johns experiences in Normandy. If there's a weakness to this book, it's the fact that Col. Johns focuses his telling on the capture of St. Lo rather than his total exerience with the 1st of the 115th. Because of this, I found the book slightly lacking because I really wanted to know what happened to the unit later in the war and also to Col. Johns!

I'll recommend this book to those who've read Beyond the Beachhead, have an interest in the Normandy Campaign, or how a battalion commander operated during WWII. Overall, I'll rate this book 4.5 stars (out of a 5 possible). The reason I can't give this one 5 is because I preferred Company Commander by Charles McDonald for telling the struggles of command in combat at the lower levels. Since Amazon doesn't give half stars, I'll give the nod to 5 stars since Col. Johns' book is a compelling read.

This memoir is unlike any other memoir of World War II that I have ever read. Johns relates the stress, the worry, the fear, the exhaustion, the humor and the camaraderie with the ease of a seasoned storyteller. For the unseasoned reader, Johns's device of telling his story in the third person will take some getting use to, but that's done after only a few pages. More telling was Johns' own reasons for using third person, "people who fight wars up close to the enemy are not the same while they are fighting as they were before and after...His (Johns) life during that time always seemed that of another person." After that, "Clay Pigeons" is a fast read. Sadly, Bantam books never reprinted this now forgotten classic. Let's hope someone will do such a service and bring this book back. It demands a reprint.

Glantz's book is a must read for any serious student of the Eastern Front in World War II. While it may be long and dry, it covers the Soviet Army at an important time in the war. It is not a book for those who are new to the conflict. Glantz covers it all, so if you want to understand how the Red Army beat the German Army, this is one you have to read.

David Glantz may not write in the most exciting way or use tons of hyperbole or focus alot on the human facet of his stories on the Russo-German war, however as far as wealth of information on the Soviet side of things go there is no one better equipped in the western world to write about The Great Patriotic War. His access to Soviet military information is unprecedented and his attention to detail of the military operations second to none. When I first began reading Glantz's tomes on the war I had preconceived notions about this conflict. If Hitler had stayed on course for Moscow after the battle of Smolensk, if he had not split Operation Blau into a Stalingrad and a Caucauses dual front and kept those troops together for a concerted drive to the Volga, if Barbarossa had been launched in May instead of late June, if the Rasputista and bitter Russian winter had not intervened, if if if. And i truly believed Hitler could and should have won this war. After starting on Glantz's books around the year 2000 or so, and truly realizing the awesome potential in manpower and equipment the Soviets had, and realizing in these readings how unprepared materially and logistically the Germans were to fight this war my whole mindset has changed. I believe even if the Germans had taken Moscow Russia would still have won this war. Other then the Germans developing atomic weapons before anyone I have radically altered my view on Germany's chances here. The Soviet Union was destined to win this war no matter what the cost. Barbarossa more then anything else, was Hitler's greatest mistake in the war. I owe this new view to the works of David Glantz. His information is incredible, his summaries superlative, his conclusions inescapable. Dry and technical it may be, but for my money there is no better writer on The Great Patriotic War then David Glantz. Remember, Germany lost the war and 90 percent of her casualties on the Eastern front. Remember, the Soviet Union lost 27 million dead and most of her agricultural and economic bases and STILL won this war. She probably could have done so, although at even greater cost, without a second front in Italy in 1943, and in France in 1944. The Russian contribution to World War II must not be downplayed in the west. The war against Germany was primarily a Russian one, and David Glantz deserves accolades for being one of very few western writers to acknowledge this fact.

So, this is something that's only for professionals and hardcore fanatics, but it is highly recommended for them. It contains everything you ever wanted to know about the Red Army between 1941-43, and even more.

OK, nothing's perfect (5 stars means it's as perfect as it could be in our imperfect world), I can tell you one complaint. At one point he claims that command turbulance wasn't that bad even during Barbarossa. He cites statistics. But what I would've needed is some comparison. It's fine to know that less than X% of certain types of commanders were relieved of command, but it would've been nice to read some comparison: how was it with other armies... Without those, the data just hang in the air... (There were a few similar points - it's not much in a book well over 600 pages. So I still give it the 5 stars.)

Glantz does his usual excellent job on the Soviet military in World War II. He covers the campaigns, and the structure and development of the red army during the early part of the war. Separating much of the formation, commander and OoB material into the companion volume is actually a plus. Both volumes are easier to handle becuase of the size and it is easier to use two books to cross reference material.

Although hundreds of histories of Soviet-German war have been published in the last decade or so, they have for the most part either focused on large-scale operations, told the story from a predominantly German perspective, or, most likely, done both. Another unfortunate result of this has been the number of revisionist works, in some degree or another based on Viktor Suvorov's Icebreaker. In part this was out of necessity due to a a number of factors, including the lack of access to former Soviet archives as well as the repression of histories deemed embarrassing to important wartime heroes. David Glantz has once again answered this dearth of reliable Soviet-perspective war history with his newest volume Colossus Reborn. Using a massive number or Soviet primary sources he has written the comprehensive history of the Soviet-German war.

Glantz' book is divided into three parts to tell this story. The first is a chronological discussion of the first 30 months of war, subdivided into the initial period, which covers the war up to the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad and then the second period, which covers the remaining 12 months. This first part of the book not only discusses the conventional view of the war but also clearly exposes the many Soviet operations that have lay hidden in virtual obscurity since war's end. Glantz also does a fine job showing how the Soviet-German war affected the course of WWII in general. Perhaps out of necessity this part of the book is rather concise. In any case it is still eye opening to have the vast number of counterstrokes, counteroffensives and strategic offensives laid out as they are here. As he himself points out, prior histories of the war have led to an almost constant and simplistic portrayal of operations as smooth periods of Wehrmacht offensives in the summer and Soviet offensives in the winter. He also clearly dispels the myth that the Red Army was simply along for the ride after the surprise attack and shows how Stalin and the Stavka repeatedly during the initial period of war attempted to organize counterstrokes as well as full counteroffensives.

Part two of the book is a very thorough look into the force structure of the Soviet army. This section is as comprehensive as one could possible ask for and retain a modicum of readability. Even as such, it is certainly the most difficult section to work through as it is basically a detailed look into how every aspect of the Soviet forces were reorganized from Front down to battalions in some instances. As such is feels at times to be comprised of endless tables of organization. This should not be overstated however, as this type of attention to detail is what most readers of Glantz have come to expect. Furthermore, it is this level of detail that sets him apart from most other widely published WWII historians. He does not simply explain to the reader that a particular type of unit was employed in a particular defensive or offensive action. He thoroughly explains how that type of unit came to be and gives the prior organization of similar units and why they failed to work.

Part three is a thorough analysis of the leaders of the Red Army and those that they led. The first subsection is broken up primarily into mini biographies of every major general, commanding every Front, Army, and Corps and all of their variants. It does so and gives a very interesting breakdown and percentages by year of the surviving and thriving general staff as well as command failures and traitors. Glantz then gives a very enlightening look into the soviet soldiers; who they were (ethnicity and gender are investigated here) how they survived, why they fought and what methods were used to keep them toeing the line, particularly after the hideous and demoralizing losses of the first six months. This section is probably the most readable of the three and is a very well written look into the human aspects of the war.

Finally, Glantz has once again written a history of the Soviet-German war that is groundbreaking, to say the least. Using sources that only he seems to be able to gain access to, he has delved more comprehensively into the factors that allowed the Red Army to first survive and eventually defeat Hitler's Wehrmacht, than anyone else before him. Yes, this volume reads quite dryly at times and the tables of organization can seem daunting but it must clearly be understood from the beginning that this is not a book for the casual history reader by any stretch. This book is meant for the dedicated historian of the Soviet-German war-those who need more than a basic overview of the military operations and geopolitical ramifications of the war. With all that said the only weakness that this book has are some instances of sloppy writing and subsequent poor editing. At times-particularly in Part I-this poor editing is truly frustrating and frequent. For the most part though, this is never more than a minor irritation. As a whole Glantz can, once again, be said to be the undisputed master of Soviet-German war history.