Russia Books

Now in an updated, revised, and significantly expanded second edition, "Doing Business With Jordan: A Guide To Investment Opportunities & Business Practices" is an indispensable reference for any business or company seeking to do business in the Middle Eastern country of Jordan. Under the deft editorship of Philip Dew, "Doing Business With Jordan" presents an introduction to Jordan in terms of its geography, geology, history, and economy. Then such specific issues are presented with respect to the five sectors of electricity, agriculture, tourism, water, and 'The Regeneration of Downtown Amman'. Clearly presented 'how to' information is provided with respect to forming a business venture, the law of commercial agents and intermediaries, 'JIB' and 'FDI', and free zones. Aqaba special economic zones and development corporations are discussed in detail. Jordanian tax and regulatory are discussed at length as are the Amman stock exchange, as well as banking regulation and supervision. Of special note is the chapter devoted to media and advertising. "Doing Business With Jordan" concludes with up-to-date information on Jordanian labor laws, living and working conditions, residential and commercial property markets. Enhanced with three appendices providing useful addresses and contact details, general information, and contributor contact details, "Doing Business With Jordan" is an essential reference for any American corporation contemplating doing any kind of business in Jordan. Companies considering (or actively engaged in) doing business anywhere overseas should visit the Global Market Place website for a complete listing of all of the 'Doing Business' titles in their Global Market Briefings series.

Who would imagine that an exhaustive investigation of the life of Dorothea de Bechendorff, born De. 28, 1785 in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. would uncover the story of the birth of modern Greece? Or give a most unusual perspective on the lives of four Romanov rulers? But this riveting work by Judith Lissauer Cromwell, most skillfully masters a vast assemblage of sources to show Dorothea's influence on European history.
Cromwell is a knowledgeable guide as she remarkably charts Lieven's progress, beginning with her early schooling, family connections, marriage at age 14 to Count Christopher Lieven, and into the pivotal, not widely known role, she played as a skillful, artful diplomat. The author brilliantly weaves the reader through an extraordinary range of material from Dorothea's own masterfully written correspondence to the papers of the most influential politicians of the period.

Maybe sound to free speculation, but to my view, Dostoevsky is spiritually the embodiment of the rebel man. Moreover, he may be regarded the authentic godfather of the existentialism in Literature. There are many arguments to support it, the conceptual, the spiritual affinities, the silence of God, the silent anguish and the clawing scream of desperation before the emptiness of the existence, so magisterially expressed in Karamazov brothers.

On the other hand, at the moment to read that notable essay of Albert Camus: "The rebel man" and the close affinity between "The happy death" and "Crime and punishment" you even may spin finer and so to establish certain parallelisms with the most radical branches of the Romanticism.

Between Dostoevsky and Camus, there are important links: Rimbaud Verlaine and Baudelaire pick up and establish important premises for the reluctant existentialism that remains latent to make its incursion with that impressive outburst after the WW1.

Joseph Franks leads the reader for admirable paths of passionate interest in order to convey us the core of the oul of this writer of writers.

Absolutely recommended.

These two works add immensely to our understanding of Dostoevsky, though they have quite different purposes: Frank completes his monumental biography of Dostoevsky, while Scanlan examines the Russian writer's philosophical thought. Scanlan (emeritus, philosophy, Ohio State Univ.) argues that while much has been said about Dostoevsky as a writer, he has rarely been treated as a philosopher. Yet through his writings, he explored a variety of philosophical issues, primarily concerning the nature of humankind. Scanlan studies Dostoevsky's nationalism, opposition to rational egotism, and beliefs about our eternal souls, moral agency, and aesthetic needs. Of course, Dostoevsky's philosophy was framed within a Christian worldview, and Scanlan does excellent work discussing Dostoevsky's ideas in terms of his religious faith. Readers wanting to learn more about the thought of one of Russia's great writers will find this work essential.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The main thesis of Sanborn's book is that violence as seen through the examples of the Tsarist and Soviet armies cemented the Russian nation together. The first part of the book, Sanborn writes about how the Soviet army managed to tighten draft evasions by rewarding those families that had members serving in the military while confiscating the land of draft evaders and their families during the Russian Civil War.Sandborn also deals with the different nationalities in the Russian empire. Belorussians and Ukrainians assimilated into the Russian army but were later segregrated into seperate ethnic units during the Russain Civil War. While Central Asians resisited service in the Russian army and the Jews were regarded by both Tsarist and Communist officers as subversives and dangerous to morale. The middle section Sanborn descibes how gender roles were coonected to the new Russin nationalism. Both Tsarist and Soviet propaganda stated that Russian men must develop their bodies to protect their nation and the family, while Russian women were required to have sons that could drafted into the army. The final section Sanborn writes how the Russian state would redeem criminals and draft evaders if they rejoined the army, but both the Soviet and Tsarist system would harshly punish pacificit sects. Although the state rewarded violent behavior it could not control it as seen through the various atrocities during the Russian Civil War.The main weakness of Sanborn's book is that he does not write about the treatement about the injured soldiers during and after the Russian Civil War and how this influeced their perception of the Soviet state. Overall this an excellent social history of the Russian army and how it contributed the creation of the Soviet Union.

Daniel Farson had a lifelong yearning to complete his father's 1929 attempt to cross the Klukhor Pass in the Caucasus on horseback. At 64, 'abominable unhealthy', he determined to try. His expedition in 1991 coincided with the coup, and he describes the journey down the Volga aboard the "Pipkin" as the coup broke all around. When he eventually reached the Caucasus, his arduous climb became fraught as the horses collapsed and the porters deserted him. However, he finally succeeded where his father had failed.

The aim of the editors is to present the best one- volume English representation of the early stories. In their outstanding introduction to the volume they define very clearly one important aspect of Chekhov's greatness as short- story teller. He had " a marvelous ability to enter into the lives of characters completely to ' inform' as Keats said of the poet, the lives of men , women, children animals and even plants and landscape. And make the reader experience the world from their point- of - view."
Chekhov is a writer who makes the reader have great sympathy for most of his characters. And this even when he is depicting people who are ' unscrewed' in various ways. In these stories there are depictions of unfulfilled lives of lives which feel differently at different times. There are also all the comic modes and devices at work of the early much loved and appreciated Chekhov.
This work has an outstanding introduction by its translators Miles and Pitcher.

If you want to know about Siberia and its history, this is really the book to go for!

You'll get a very clear picture of the Russian expantion to the East as well as the epiq stories of bold and daring people who made the first expeditions into this hostile and giant land. They were true heroes, although many of them became so much against their will and like so many other heroes, many of them never came back home.

This is not another story about the camps in Siberia. The camps are described and Bobrick does that very well, but the true value of this book is the time before World War 1. Further, it is very well written and you'll loose your nights sleep, once you get started!

Highly recommended!

Have you ever dreamed of flying yourself around the world in a small Cessna aircraft ?
No need for courage, you can experience this incredible voyage traveling vicariously through
the pages of Eastbound, Our Flight/Our Mission authored by Renny Shapiro. All
aboard with the crew, Renny and Bernie Shapiro and Evy and Martin Lutin!

After much preparations and anticipation, the two couples, who were in their
sixties, began their journey eastbound from Van Nuys, California. They
eventually returned to their home base in 65 hours and five minutes of flying
time, sixty-three days, and 18, 814.2 nautical miles later.

Dividing their adventures into four parts, Shapiro describes their extensive
preparations, their journey from Van Nuys, California to Istanbul and then onto
Russia and ultimately returning to California. The final chapter, Afterward,
presents Shapiro's afterthoughts.

With trepidation, we share the author's humor and excitement such as their
episode in Scotland where "every place is pronounced "Hle Gurgle Gurgle in
Kitchee by Taunt."

Peppered throughout the book are historical facts, sometimes entertaining while
other times quite tragic, such as their visits to the concentration camps where
their guide presented them with a copy of Elie Wiesel's poem:

"Never shall I forget that night The first night in camp, Which has turned my
life into one long night... Never shall I forget these things, Even if I am
condemned to live As long as God himself, Never."

The chapter decscribing Bodrum, a seaside resort, lifts the mood somewhat as
Shapiro narrates their delightful experiences cruising the Cleopatra Coast and
where they enjoyed the succulent meals prepared by their chef Sada. They even
had the opportunity to be treated to an Anniversary party complete with a belly
dancer!

It is in Istanbul they meet up with Ali Gutelkin and his driver
Hamish and they visit the luxurious Blue Mosque and the Aya Sophia. They also
had the opportunity to admire the 80 karat diamond and the Topkapi dagger, and
visited a real Harem.

As for the history of the Jews in Turkey, Shapiro reminds us that in 1492 with
the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Turkish Sultan Bayazid II welcomed them
saying: "Ferdinand has made his country poor and enriched ours!"

Unfortunately, today, The Synagogue of Neva Shalom is heavily guarded as the
result of a bombing committed by Arab terrorists in 1986, that resulted in the
death of the local rabbi, the cantor and twenty-two Jewish worshipers.

When asked what is the present relationship between Turkey and Israel, the reply
was that they both had differences but that as we are both democracies, we
maintain a relationship.

Next on the agenda was their trip to Russia. Despite the fact that the
Shapiro/Lutin crew previously traveled here at the beginning of 1993, the year of Jewish revival
in the Soviet Union, their spirits this time were somewhat shattered when they
visited Babi Yar, the site of the slaughter of thirty thousand of Jews.

Alex Bernstein, the couples' guide and who was the Director of JAFI, at the
time, narrates how his aunt, who was a survivor of Babi Yar, "was but a
schoolgirl when she was separated from her family during the roundup of Jews by
Ukranian police and Nazi sympathizers, and like the rest she was marched to the
ravine, stripped naked and shot. Then, while badly wounded, she managed to
survive by hiding amongst the bodies of the dead until she was able to crawl out
and find refuge with non-Jewish friends who helped her flee the country." And as
he points out to them, this is why he came to help the Jews of Russia.

During the course of their voyage, the couples never missed an opportunity to
reconnect with fellow Jews residing in several countries, particularly Ukraine
and Siberia. As they note, it was quite an experience! Although they discovered
that anti-Semitism is still prevalent in some regions, Jews are not as terrified
as in the past. At least they now have a choice of doing "Aliyah" (immigrating
to Israel) or to practice their religion in peace, if they chose to stay in
Russia.

The crew's experience in Russia is riveting and full of exciting happenings. The
presence of Israelis guiding Russian Jews to do Aliyah or helping the elderly
with food and medication was incredibly courageous. Especially commendable was
British-Born Israeli Stuart Saffer, Director of the Joint Distribution Committee
in Odessa which serves 250,000 Jews living in 'South Ukraine, Belarus and
Moldova. As the author states: "Without any question, what we've found most
memorable are the miracles being wrought by the JDC and JAFI. Evy and I have
spent years educating ourselves and others about these agencies and helping to
raise funds for their work. But nothing prepared us for seeing with our own eyes
how this work is being carried out here or for witnessing first-hand the immense
and dramatic impact it is having on the lives of their recipients."

When the crew happily returned home, they had their work cut out for them.
For one, they kept in touch with most of the people they met during their
ventures. And in 1994 Renny and Evy Lutin together with friends
and family returned to Kiev to attend the International Conference of Jewish
Women. It was an event whose objective was to bring together for the first time
ever 350 Jewish women from Ukraine, Russia, Siberia and the West in order to foster the
spirit of sisterhood, to promote connection, and to open an avenue of learning
that will flow both ways.

The Jews in Russia still survive in the face of anti-Semitism and are rebuilding
their lives in spite of overwhelming odds. Why they don't get out of Russia?Some are held back by family ties, some are just afraid of the unknown, some of them are courageous enough to make "Aliyah".


Eastbound, Our Flight-Our Mission by Renny Shapiro is a must read by those who
dream of flying and those who dream of peace.

Lily Azerad-Goldman, Reviewer for Bookpleasures

Great detailed coverage of why the pogrom occurred, what led to it occurring, what happened while it was going on, and what the outcome was for both the victims and perpetrators. The book is a pretty small one, but it encompasses everything you need to know about this specific event in Russian history. The history of the city is given as well as the reason for why Jews were such a large part of the population. How the town was mainly run by anti-Semites and what they did to help push people over the edge and create violence toward the Jewish members of the city. Starting with the blood libel from another town which was disproved to have been the work of Jews but nonetheless held up as fact within Kishinev's newspapers which increased feelings against Jews and ending with all out violence that went unchecked until the second day when the military was given all power to handle the situation. A large portion of the city was damaged and men, women, and children were killed, raped, robbed, beaten, etc. Questions about how much was the government really involved are never clearly answered, there is evidence to support both arguments that it was and wasn't. But both are presented and the reader is given the choice of deciding on his/her own. Overall an excellent book, a quick read, and very informational and detailed.