Russia Books

My daughter got dressed up and did a beautiful creative dance for me last week. When she was done, she said, "Mom, don't I look like that pretty little girl in the carrot book?" That in itself wouldn't be amazing except for the fact that WE DON'T OWN THIS BOOK! WE HAD CHECKED THIS BOOK OUT FROM THE PUBLIC LIBRARY ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO! I'm buying my copy today! The illustrations grab you. They're realistic, colorful and created with a sense of humor. I could say the same for the text which builds page to page allowing each member of the family to play a role in contributing to the success of the giant carrot. My children love this book, especially when I read it with a "southern drawl."

I conduct a weekly preschool storytime at a public library in California. After I finished reading this book, there was a physical confrontation between two children who both wanted to check it out! What a crowd-pleaser, and a pleasure to read aloud.

The prose glows as warmly as the sun-drenched illustrations. Definitely one of the best of the recent crop of picture books. I just wish the author had included, not only a recipe for sweet carrot puddin', but also one for wide Mama Bess's thick carrot stew! Yum!

The Giant Carrot has a lot going for it. It is fun for kids to listen to, fun for them to read, fun to act out, and filled with fun illustrations and a wonderful message of cooperation and the joy of finding one's own place.

Author Jan Peck has given a new twist to the old Russian folktale "The Giant Turnip". Beginning her book, Mrs. Peck states the background of her story. A delightful tale of a giant carrot takes the basis of her tale. From Papa Joe's desire to have "a tall glass of carrot juice" to sweet Little Isabelle's desire to have "little cups of carrot puddin'", this tale flows smoothly. The repetition and building of this tale adds a joy for children. Before long, the children are joining the story. A great addition to any library - public, private, school and home.

I won't write specifics about what I love about this book and series so that I don't spoil it for other readers. I will say that this series is fantastic. It's incorporates fictional characters with non-fictional history and events. You'll laugh, cry, get frustrated...the Pella/Phillips duo is unstoppable in this wonderful saga.

This series just keeps getting better! This one focuseed on the characters reuniting with their loved ones. Count Dmitri Remizov finally returns to Russia for his daughter Mariana. She is thrust into a world she has never known full of beautiful dresses and men throwing themselves at her feet. But Mariana is entangled in a love triangle she never expected with her old friend Stephan from Katyk, who she has known her entire life, and her new American friend Daniel, who is writing a story about her rise from peasant to countess.Meanwhile, Victor Federcenko's fortune is dwindling and forcing him to give up almost everything he has while he lives in the Crimea in denial of the events in the past that forced him to move away from the city and lose his grip on sanity. Sergei and Anna return to St. Petersburg to be near Mariana but they fear that Sergei's secret will be found out and their entire family will be put in peril. Paul and his wife Mathilde return to St. Petersburg after living in exile in Siberia for many years. But their radical ideas are still intact and they are determined to bring about change to a country in need of changes. Heirs of the Motherland is an excellent and compelling read that is a key book in the Russians Series!

Pella and Phillips never seem to disappoint with this series. I recommend all seven books with five stars.

The saga of Anna Yevnovich and her family and friends continues. The fourth book centers around Anna's adoptive daughter and niece Mariana, so there is plenty of "new" to this story. However, there is a lot of dwelling on past events, so I beleive someone who hasn't read the first three of the series may be able to follow it - and perhaps find it even more interesting for that reason. I, too, enjoy Pella's writing style, and how she incorporates Anna's strong Christian faith into the story without it seeming intrusive.

I really enjoyed reading the book. I'm a Christian so I can really relate to the Biblical principles in the book. The book was well-written and inspiring. Keep up the good work!

This novel has emerged, from the ruins of the purges, like a pure, unspoiled and immaculate gem. As an autobiographical novel, one cannot deny the importance of this work to provide for insights into Bukharin's private life, given that most biographies of Bukharin are about his political and intellectual life.

Not only is this work important in this regard, Bukharin's stunning literary ability comes to the forefront in this work, which details, with a humanistic empathy, the plight of the peasants, family relations and the psychology of a middle class family from the late 19th century Russian society. The novel begins with the birth of "Kolya" and is seen through the boy's eyes as he grows up. It ends, poignantly, (Bukharin did not live to finish the work) with the death of his brother.

Of particular note is the rich texture of his narrative; it powerfully invokes a child-like sense of wonder that is intrinsic to children of that age. There are indeed very few works out there that parallel the vivid evocation of imagery which Bukharin is capable of. Bukharin's description of the Russian landscape was beautifully detailed, as was the heartfelt revelations about life which slipped through.

It is through this work that we come to realize that the interior life of this man was not only brilliant, but that his political stance was chosen fundamentally because of his humanistic understanding of Russian peasants and the impoverished.

This edition comes with very lovely pictures, too.

Set in the pre-revolutionary Russia, Bukharin's novel attempts to demonstrate, through the eyes of a youth named Nikolai Petrov, how the revolutionary spirit fermented and grew among the youth and intelligentsia. While this novel could be read with an eye toward the abuses of the Soviet Union and dismissed as political propaganda, in doing so the reader would miss the wealth of historical detail with which Bukharin writes. Every page is bursting with succulent fruit for anyone interested in the social, economic, and cultural world of the peasants and the working class at the turn of the century in pre-revolutionary Russia. Part of that fruit is socialism, communism, atheism, and the raging underground debates taking place during that period; seen as history, however, Bukharin gives us an invaluable insider's view, recalling his youth in all its variety and discussing the situations that led him down the path his life had taken.

The story revolves around Nikolai, who is obviously a cipher for Bukharin himself. Young Kolya (Nikolai) is full of energy, wit, and curiosity. As he grows and excels in school, his thinking begins to grow as well, from that of an innocent child to that of a young man on the verge of becoming a revolutionary himself. Unfortunately, the saddest part about this novel is that it ends in the middle of a chapter; Stalin finally had Bukharin executed, making it very difficult to continue writing. The writing is so well done it is hard to believe Bukharin never had a chance to re-write it; we are reading essentially his first draft, written in prison. His astounding intellect is obvious, quoting from German, French, English, and Russian poets and authors, occasionally making references to Latin or Greek jokes the children learned in high school, and discussing the variety of birds and other animals Kolya collects with amazing clarity.

Before reading this book, I knew Bukharin was a political genius that few have matched. However, I did not realize his brilliance as a writer: he appeals wonderfully to all the visual and emotional senses as a great novelist. He occasionally discusses his growing political awareness, but that is not the focus of this work. His love of life, nature, and family show the incredible depth of his mind. Much credit must also be given to the translator for making the language so effusive in English.

It's a wonderful miracle that this book was not destroyed by Stalin; it's just a shame that it's incomplete, cutting off in mid-thought. Nevertheless, what Bukharin was able to complete provides an enthralling look into life in late Tsarist Russia, as well as putting us a bit closer with one of the most prominent and tragic victims of the purges.

Bukharin's autobiographical work is a lyrical, moving, story of the life of a young boy in pre-Soviet russia. Unlike Leon Trotsky's autobiography, which is a similar work in content, this is a novel. And a grand one. When you read the touching descriptions of Kolya's then idyllic, then tragic domestic life, you feel helpless, sad, for you know that this boy will eventually be dead, the New World he helped to create corrupted and turned against him. The very existence of this novel is a message of hope, that even under the most tragic and ironic circumstances there can something joyous (Bukharin wrote the novel while in Lubyanka prison). The poignancy of all this is further increased by the included letter by Bukharin, written to his wife Anna Larina and not given to her for 50+ years. This book also stands as a monument (in a medium I belief he would have perhaps preferred) to Nikolai Bukharin, a brilliant scholar, writer, and Revolutionary

This is a remarkable book. It combines three forms in a single work: 1) a detailed and evocative story of a boy growing up in late 19th century Russia, 2) an informative and moving autobiography of one of the most important Bolshevik leaders, and 3) commentary on the social and economic developments leading up to the 1905 and 1917 revolutions, including (in the tradition of Russian novels) imagined descriptions of important meetings of leaders of state. Most remarkable, though, is that the entire book was written in the nights of Bukharin's confinement in Moscow's Lubyanka Prison while he awaited almost certain execution following his notorious "show trial". The idea of a man who knows he could be shot at any moment writing such detailed, even leisurely descriptions of his childhood in Moscow and Bessarabia is almost beyond comprehension. Indeed, the novel breaks off in mid-sentence. This book should not be missed by anyone interested in 19th and 20th century Russian history, and will be enjoyed by anyone interested in a good coming-of-age novel as well.

I Heard My People Cry is fast becoming the one book everyone in your "home town" wants to read. Congratulations Elizabeth.

A foreword for this 2nd printing is written by Nancy K. Splain, J.D., Liaison to the American Bar Association's Far Eastern Project - Ukraine. Dr. Splain lived in Ukraine 2001 and 2002. She has traveled many of the same by-ways as Lise did during her escape with her Mennonite people. In this unusual foreword, Dr. Splain describes the lush hills of Crimea where Lise was born and her passion for this book is obvious. Dr. Splain's foreword is an outstanding addition to this award winning book.

Escape to freedom. Survival. How might we lose our freedoms? This author tells it all.

Set in Eurasian history, this remarkable story of faith, courage, perseverance and love could easily have happened--and is happening--today. A mother's love and determination, a child's lost innocence, a tale of harrowing survival. What should never have occurred again is as fresh today as it was then. I couldn't put it down the first time, and I continue to pick up my favorite parts to read them over and over as a source and basis for my own faith. The words are so clear, the vision so real.

has written this true story in Lise's own, up-lifting and charming words as a child of Dutch-German parents trapped in Russia. I consider it an important addition to the unknown, unadmitted history of Russia's people and Lise's escape with 140 of her people is an amazing story for all ages. This exciting, well crafted book is hard to put down. It is both relevant and powerful. How difficult it is to earn freedom -- how easy to lose it! I Heard My People Cry is felt in the hearts, and seen upon the faces of all mankind. So relevant for day!

If an appreciation of the personal perspective of the poet can deepen the experience of his words, then Lemkhin's photographic tribute to Brodsky's beloved home belongs on our bookshelves alongside the poetry books and essays of the Nobel laureate. Except for an intimate foreword by Milosz, a moving afterword by Sontag, and brief postnotes in which Lemkhin provides background details on several of the images, the message of this book is delivered entirely through black-and-white images. The voice of those visions comes through most clearly when one imagines viewig through the eyes of the poet himself, not only in the streets and the statues, the skies and the stories of Leningrad, but in the mirror of the close-up snapshots of Brodsky himself placed throughout the collection of pictures. Even the mediocre artistic quality of some of the individual snapshots can be forgiven as the soft footsteps of the poet can be heard stepping through his own lines in the movement of these deeply personal worlds of his own home.

I greatly enjoyed the two books by Mikhail Lemkhin: "Missing Frames" and "Fragments". I am especially moved by portraits. There is something about the portraits that make them very different from most others. The pictures are not posed, but don't seem to be too candid either. I get the impression that the subject is aware of the photographer, but is not posing for him, at least not physically. It is as if the subject is exposing his/her inner soul to the camera. The photographs work, in deeply satisfying way, very well. I know I will look at them again and again.

JOSEPH BRODSKY, LENINGRAD: FRAGMENTS succeeds on every level. For those not familiar with Brodsky's brilliant poetry I would recommend that you spend time with WATERMARKS, his tribute to the city of Venice, before coming to this book. Once the gentle subtleties of his poetry are in mind, then spending time perusing this pictorial essay of Brodsky's face and the scenes of Leningrad (the old name for St. Petersburg is used because that was the city's Soviet name used when Brodsky lived there) will form a complete picture of this amazing expatriate. Mikhail Lemkhin addresses not only the pictorial influences on the poet, but also adds some words of wisdom. The tribute at the end of the photographs, in some of Sunsan Sonntag's most eloquent writing, is a fitting closure to this very lovely book. Highly recommended.

Mikhail Lemkhin's book is a book in the fullest sense: not an album of exquisite photo studies, but a composition which transcribes a train of thought. The pages roll like clouds across the sky: Look, this is what we cherished in our lives, this is what happens to people, to stone, to memory, thanks to a little acid rain, that most noiseless rain, they call it - `time`. This is an experience of the `literature of silence`. Like a telepathic séance. The Covetous Knight's soliloquy over a chest of devaluated bank notes. Poor Knight! Over a hundred shots taken at the speed of 1/100 - in all, why that's just around a second! Someone else's story, made up mostly of the same things or signs as mine or yours, only linked in a different way to yield a personal fate. In particular, or rather, most importantly, it included a City which inspired a dream about the meaning of existence, and a Contemporary who succeeded in rendering the tonality of that meaning. But the second has passed, having absorbed almost all that could be held dear. The light wanes. The sound is off. And a question arises: Out of that which man has lost forever, is there anything that he possesses for eternity? The gaze, seasoned with peppery essence of silver, shows irony, pain, and tenderness.

Samuil Lurie, Neva Magazine (St.Petersburg, Russia)

Photography informs the poetics of Joseph Brodsky, photographer's son and himself no novice to the camera. Mikhail Lemkhin's double homage to the recently deceased poet and the city of his -- and Lemkhin's -- birth should be thought of as photography's own reply to Brodsky. Lemkhin calls his _Joseph Brodsky, Leningrad_ a photo-poem; to this one might only add that it is a particularly Brodskian photo-poem -- Brodskian not in its type of montage but in its predilection for montage, not in its sensibility but in the realities it conveys. To imitate Brodsky is to traduce Brodsky. Lemkhin understands that Brodsky's prime legacy is intellectual independence; his photography engages Brodsky's poetry rather than illustrates it, works with, rather than within, its visual counterparts of Brodsky's speech. The end-result belongs on the bookshelf as much as it does on the coffee-table.

It is not often that you are pulled right into a drama from the first page, but Mr. Whitchruch manages to accomplish this. His characters come alive before your eyes and you simply cannot put it down. By the time I reached the end of the book it was as if I had lived the entire thing at their side. You will enjoy this tome, and I highly recommend it.

Make sure to set aside some reading time before you pick up this book as you won't want to put it down. It grabs your attention and doesn't let go until the end, leaving you wanting more and hoping to revisit many of the characters at a later date. Hope to see more from this new author. We happened to meet him and he seemed to be a very dynamic individual with a lots of interesting ideas swirling around in his head. Enjoyed the references to the real northern California.

Wow! I couldn't put this book down, once I got into it. A great adventure story with wonderful character development that keeps you guessing. Many references to the CIA, "old" California, and sailboats/planes. A really good read; looking forward to more from this new author!

I read this book and was wowed by the attention to detail and historical accuracy. Mr. Whitchurch blends together fact and fiction in a seamless story that flows from beginning to end. I would recommend this book to any griffin or Clancy fan. It is great

As an independent publicist and book enthusiast I have read many stories and listened to a number of books on tape and this CIA fiction novel by a promising new writer had my attention from start to finish. Whitchurch has an easy writing style and you immediately feel you know the characters personally. If you like Clancy or Griffin, this is a must read. I am looking forward to additional writings by this author.

This last of 3 volumes in Deutscher's biography caps an astonishing and captivating historiographical achievement. Deutscher weaves together character study, drama, and historical narrative to give an authoritative account of Trotsky's tragic final years, as the great leader waged a rearguard ideological struggle in the face of an avalanche of Stalinist harassment, slander, repression and murder. Simultaneously, Deutscher lays bare the blunders and disasters of the Communist International under Stalin's leadership, making clear how inexorably these failures followed from Stalin's deadened bureaucratic-centralist socialism.

Deutscher's deft handling of the facts, personalities, ideas, and situations of the time is simply unparallelled, and makes for a tremendously enjoyable and informative read. His account of Trotsky's last hours left me in awed tears.

Essential material for anyone exploring the question of where socialism went wrong in the 20th century.

THIS YEAR MARKS THE 66TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION OF LEON TROTSKY-ONE OF HISTORY'S GREAT REVOLUTIONARIES. IT IS THEREFORE FITTING TO REVIEW THE THREE VOLUME WORK OF HIS DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHER, THE PROPHET ARMED, THE PROPHET UNARMED, THE OUTCAST.

Isaac Deutscher's three-volume biography of the great Russian Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky although written over one half century ago remains the standard biography of the man. Although this writer disagrees , as I believe that Trotsky himself would have, about the appropriateness of the title of prophet and its underlying premise that a tragic hero had fallen defeated in a worthy cause, the vast sum of work produced and researched makes up for those basically literary differences. Deutscher, himself, became in the end an adversary of Trotsky's politics around his differing interpretation of the historic role of Stalinism and the fate of the Fourth International but he makes those differences clear and in general they does not mar the work. I do not believe even with the eventual full opening of all the old Soviet-era files any future biographer will dramatically increase our knowledge about Trotsky and his revolutionary struggles. Moreover, as I have mentioned elsewhere in other reviews while he has not been historically fully vindicated he is in no need of any certificate of revolutionary good conduct.

At the beginning of the 21st century when the validity of socialist political programs as tools for change is in apparent decline or disregarded as utopian it may be hard to imagine the spirit that drove Trotsky to dedicate his whole life to the fight for a socialist society. However, at the beginning of the 20th century he represented only the one of the most consistent and audacious of a revolutionary generation of mainly Eastern Europeans and Russians who set out to change the history of the 20th century. It was as if the best and brightest of that generation were afraid, for better or worse, not to take part in the political struggles that would shape the modern world. As Trotsky noted elsewhere this element was missing, with the exceptions of Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and precious few others, in the Western labor movement. Deutscher using Trotsky's own experiences tells the story of the creation of this revolutionary cadre with care and generally proper proportions. Here are some highlights militant leftists should think about.

On the face of it Trotsky's personal profile does not stand out as that of a born revolutionary. Born of a hard working, eventually prosperous Jewish farming family in the Ukraine (of all places) there is something anomalous about his eventual political occupation. Always a vociferous reader, good writer and top student under other circumstances he would have found easy success, as others did, in the bourgeois academy, if not in Russia then in Western Europe. But there is the rub; it was the intolerable and personally repellant political and cultural conditions of Czarist Russia in the late 19th century that eventually drove Trotsky to the revolutionary movement- first as a `ragtag' populist and then to his life long dedication to orthodox Marxism. As noted above, a glance at the biographies of Eastern European revolutionary leaders such as Lenin, Martov, Christian Rakovsky, Bukharin and others shows that Trotsky was hardly alone in his anger at the status quo. And the determination to something about it.

For those who argue, as many did in the New Left in the 1960's, that the most oppressed are the most revolutionary the lives of the Russian and Eastern European revolutionaries provide a cautionary note. The most oppressed, those most in need of the benefits of socialist revolution, are mainly wrapped up in the sheer struggle for survival and do not enter the political arena until late, if at all. Even a quick glance at the biographies of the secondary leadership of various revolutionary movements, actual revolutionary workers who formed the links to the working class , generally show skilled or semi-skilled workers striving to better themselves rather than the most downtrodden lumpenproletarian elements. The sailors of Kronstadt and the Putilov workers in Saint Petersburg come to mind. The point is that `the wild boys and girls' of the street do not lead revolutions; they simply do not have the staying power. On this point, militants can also take Trotsky's biography as a case study of what it takes to stay the course in the difficult struggle to create a new social order. While the Russian revolutionary movement, like the later New Left mentioned above, had more than its share of dropouts, especially after the failure of the 1905 revolution, it is notably how many stayed with the movement under much more difficult circumstances than we ever faced. For better or worst, and I think for the better, that is how revolutions are made.

Once Trotsky made the transition to Marxism he became embroiled in the struggles to create a unity Russian Social Democratic Party, a party of the whole class, or at least a party representing the historic interests of that class. This led him to participate in the famous Bolshevik/Menshevik struggle in 1903 which defined what the party would be, its program, its methods of work and who would qualify for membership. The shorthand for this fight can be stated as the battle between the `hards' (Bolsheviks, who stood for a party of professional revolutionaries) and the `softs' (Mensheviks, who stood for a looser conception of party membership) although those terms do not do full justice to these fights. Strangely, given his later attitudes, Trotsky stood with the `softs', the Mensheviks, in the initial fight in 1903. Although Trotsky almost immediately afterward broke from that faction I do not believe that his position in the 1903 fight contradicted the impulses he exhibited throughout his career- personally `libertarian', for lack of a better word , and politically hard in the clutch.

Even a cursory glance at most of Trotsky's career indicates that it was not spent in organizational in-fighting, or at least not successfully. Trotsky stands out as the consummate free-lancer. More than one biographer has noted this condition, including his definitive biographer Isaac Deutscher. Let me make a couple of points to take the edge of this characterization though. In that 1903 fight mentioned above Trotsky did fight against Economism (the tendency to only fight over trade union issues and not fight overtly political struggles against the Czarist regime) and he did fight against Bundism (the tendency for one group, in this case the Jewish workers, to set the political agenda for that particular group). Moreover, he most certainly favored a centralized organization. These were the key issues at that time. Furthermore, the controversial organizational question did not preclude the very strong notion that a `big tent' unitary party was necessary. The `big tent' German Social Democratic model held very strong sway among the Russian revolutionaries for a long time, including Lenin's Bolsheviks. The long and short of it was that Trotsky was not an organization man, per se. He knew how to organize revolutions, armies, Internationals, economies and so on when he needed to but on a day to day basis no. Thus, to compare or contrast him to Lenin and his very different successes is unfair. Both have an honorable place in the revolutionary movement; it is just a different place.

This is the final volume of Isaac Deutscher's famous three-volume biography of Leon Trotsky, the great Russian revolutionary. Deutscher's biography is the standard biography of Trotsky by which all other biographies of Trosky are measured.

Picking up the life of Trotsky from the time of his first exile from the Soviet Union in 1929, this book carries the story of the later portion of Trotsky's life all the way to his murder in Mexico in 1940.

Deutscher's writing is enticing and holds the interest of the reader. The book is also wonderfully indexed and serves as a guide to the voluminous writing of Leon Trosky during the last phase of his life.

The last ten years of Trotaky's life was one of exile and assassination, an account worthy of the death of Jesus and Socrates. Mme Trotsky even remarked that her husband when mortally wounded look like Jesus taken down from the cross in an El Greco.

It remains to me still incomprehensible that so many Communists and supporters of Communism did not come to Trotsky's defense and aid, allowing that thug Stalin to persecute him, to destroy his followers in morale and in life, and finally to send an assassin to finish him off. Granted that Trotsky's position against Stalin and in favor of the Soviet Union was perhaps too sophisticated for most Communists to rally to, he was after all still the greatest Communist figure after Lenin and perhaps even including Lenin.

Trotsky would of course have been horrified to learn of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but had he led the Soviet Union after Lenin much might have been different and better for all concerned. He certainly was more right than Stalin about Hitler, about China, and about the dangers of extremist collectivization and industrialization, even though collectivization of agriculture and rapid industrialization were program he had initially advanced against the hesitations of Stalin.

In the end Bolshevism has in Trotsky its hero and prophet which nothing can really take away.

This reprint series, others have correctly noted, is marked by numerous typos and other errors.

This is perhaps the most "weak" part of the "Prophet" trilogy, in that Deutscher thought Trotsky's opposition to Stalin was, at the time it happened, useless, as Stalinism was the necessary mechanism of modernization that made a future fully-fledeged socialist society possible. Now, amid the smouldring ruins of Stalinism and with the former Soviet bloc reduced to a sorry parody of compradore capitalism of the Latin American style, one can be certain that, in the long run, Trotsky was right, after all, but then Deutscher puts his case so throughly that one can see precisely in what he was wrong and therefore how Trotsky managed to make so outstanding and unexpected a prevision as the final demise of Stalinism. Only that makes this book a necessary reading.

This is the best Russian history book I have read in a very long time. You should all be "Russian" out to get it as soon as possible. History was never my favorite subject, but this author made the subject come alive. My father's parents were born and raised in Russia and had to leave at around the turn of the twentieth century, so reading about the Tsars and the rebellions of that time period gave me a vast new understanding of my ancestral origins when my family members were strangers in a strange land. Great Job, Pete. History rocks!

This book is real tight now ya hear...pick it up pronto. huzzah for the j man

Mr. Julicher is the best teacher at Cranbrook. This book is great and informative.

I am in the process of reading this book and am
fascinated by the authors detail description of the
tsars. It's wonderful to read a book with substance
and not fluff! I am impressed!

Julicher's book is a great book for anyone who wants to read-up on Russian history without referencing several sources. The book easily divides periods of history into readible and understandable chapters. This is a great book for any college or high school student who is interested in Russian history

Stephen Mclaughlin's Russian & Soviet Battleships is the best available technical history of the battleships built by Russia and the Soviet Union between 1869 and the 1940s. It is not only a superb technical history that describes the design and construction of each ship in great detail, but also provides quite a bit on the operational use of each vessel as well. Furthermore, the research behind this volume is impressive and there is a great deal of information packed into these 496 pages. If you are looking for an English-language reference on Russian battleships, this is the best available (although there are now many Russian-language books available on the internet, as well).

Russian & Soviet Battleships consists of 49 chapters, beginning with the construction of the original Russian ironclad, the Petr Velikii in 1869 and stretching to the final uncompleted battleship projects under Stalin. The author also intersperses chapters on Russian naval policy; wartime service in the Russo-Japanese War, the First World War and the Second World War; lessons learned from each war; design developments and foreign assistance. Each class of Russian battleships is covered in an individual chapter, which include sub-sections on design and construction, general features, armament, protection, machinery and trials, modifications and career. These sections also include line drawings of each class and a data plate. The volume is packed with a large selection of quality B/W photos, including some rare ones drawn from Soviet archives. A large number of endnotes are also provided. This book is very well written and although pricey, is worth every dime.

Only one word can adequately describe this volume...EXCELLENT....The section on WWII/Postwar era (1922-1963, my primary interest area) is absolutely outstanding....Photos are good and relatively plentiful...line drawings excellent ... and most important to me, accurate information, documentation, and drawings are presented on the Sovietsya Soyuz BB classes, which to date has been sorely lacking.... And a plethora of data on a multitude of other little known Soviet postwar BB/CB projects is included......Highly recommended and well worth the price...

Mr. McLaughlin has written what may well be the best book of the genre! While most books of this nature usually consist of long list of data and short dry explanations, Russian and Soviet Battleships reads more like a detailed history rather than a staff engineering report. He has managed to not only provide all the information that you expect from a book of this type but he brings it alive. The lineage of design is clearly defined as he brings the reader through the many phases of Russian naval design history. The ships are brought to life with descriptions of actions they fought as well as of the men who designed them. An outstanding job!

This really is a splendid book for those interested in the capital ships of the Russo-Japanese war, not to mention the 1st and 2nd world wars as well. So little is readily available on the Russian ships of this era, and even less that is really useful. Excellent drawings, great photographs, splendid specifications and historical narrative as well! I just wish Mr. McLaughlin might consider a similar treatise on Russian cruisers and/or the Japanese ships of the Russo-Japanese war too! A really useful source for modellers, and naval historians!

Finally the subject of Russian and Soviet battleships has been given the treatment it deserves. These interesting vessels have been generally overlooked by naval historians. Steve McLaughlin has corrected that situation with his impressive work. Deeply researched with newly available Russian language sources this book provides the first in depth look at the technical and operational histories of these vessels to be published in English. It is a must for anyone with an interest in gun armed capital ships, the Imperial Russian and Soviet Navies or naval aspects of the three major conflicts of the first half of the Twentieth Century.

This was a required book for a Russian class at SUNY Brockport.It was in good condition and delivered in a timely fashion.

Having lived in Russia for the last two years, and dealt with Russians and Russian life daily, I believe the author has accurately summarized everything you should know prior to arriving or doing business here. Useful for both the unstudied tourist and students of Russian language.

It cannot be easy to describe an entire country, its People, its culture and its customs, in 400-odd pages. Nonetheless, that is exactly what Ms. Gerhart has done here.

She covers not only the basics, the "everything you want to know about Russia" -- she delights her readers by covering several things they may not have realized they wanted to know. For instance, the intelligentsia ordinarily shies away from discussing slang and "mat", perhaps thinking it beneath them. Yet Ms. Gerhart recognizes that, as a practical matter, this is something that simply has to be covered for people visiting or living in real-world Russia. You may not want to use bad words yourself, but you certainly want to know when the gentlemen in the flat-top haircuts and leather coats, walking towards you outside the metro station, are using them towards you... So in a completely proper and not at all vulgar manner, she tells you everything you really need to know about cursing in Russian -- along with a clear injunction to "not try this at home" yourself.

Personally, my favorite part of the book was her discussion of tools used in woodworking, a hobby of mine. I found the translations of these words, not commonly needed by a tourist in Russia, invaluable when I went on a short shopping spree seeking locally forged axes and chisels in podmoskovia. This section may not be for everyone, but it is demonstrative of a point I wish to make about the book as a whole: While not everything in the book may interest everyone, everyone who reads the book will find something that interests them -- perhaps something they never expected to find there.

I have the 1974 paperback edition, and I can't give it enough praise. It's simply awesome! It gives a unique insight into the customs of Russian people as related to their history, their land, and their language. In the preface, the author states that her goal is to "explain in what physical ways the Russian world differs from [the American], both the given world of nature and the world of objects the Russian and his forbears have created to cope with it." In this she has succeeded beautifully. In many ways, everyday Russian life is powerfully affected by environment and tradition. Here is everything you need to know before you go. One of my travel tourguide books claims that many American visitors are "ultimately disappointed" by Russia. This is because they do not experience the *real* Russia, nor even know what to expect. If you are planning a vacation trip, read this book first and your visit will be much enhanced. If you stay there with Russian friends and associates, this book will enable you to understand and appreciate their quite different customs. And if you are learning Russian, this book gives a fascinating insight into the relationship between the language and the people who speak it.

This book can be used by students at any level form beginner to advanced as well as by tourists or other travelers to Russia who don't speak the language, but want to understand the people. The author touches on sensitive issues while remaining relatively non-judgemental, which is unusual and refreshing to find.