The History Book Club discussion

This thread is focused on Russia (Soviet Union, former USSR, Russian Federation).

Received this book in the mail today. It is the history of family life under Joseph Stalin.

by Orlando Figes

Also, about a year ago, I read this book about life in the Gulags. A bit ponderous I found but worth the read.

by Anne Applebaum

Thank you so much Nicole for the adds.

Hi Nicole,

Have you read Orlando Figes' book on the Russian Revolution; "A People's Tragedy: A History of the Russian Revolution"?

by Orlando Figes

I think its one of the best accounts I have read on that event. Plus he has a new book on the Crimean War:

by Orlando Figes

Thank you Aussie Rick for your add.

This will be my first book by him. I hadn't heard of him before, just noticed this particular book wandering through the bookstore.

I remember loving the following book on Russian history and culture.

by Suzanne Massie

I think that book may be quite chilling. I feel that Stalin was as much a tyrant as Hitler or even more so. Let me know if it is one that I need to put on my TBR list.


by Orlando Figes

I will post once I read it and let you know.

Interesting that you brought up a book by Suzanne since her ex husband Robert Massie wrote Catherine the Great. At least once upon a time - they both had and have a love of Russia.

Suzanne Massie

by Robert K. Massie

I've read quite a few books about Russia - adding to the above I'd like to mention

by Orlando Figes.

I found this book which is due out tomorrow. It covers the life, personal, political and military of General Zhukov.

Stalin's General: The Life of Georgy Zhukov

byGeoffrey Roberts

Synopsis
Widely regarded as the most accomplished general of World War II, the Soviet military legend Marshal Georgy Zhukov at last gets the full-scale biographical treatment he has long deserved.

A man of indomitable will and fierce determination, Georgy Zhukov was the Soviet Union’s indispensable commander through every one of the critical turning points of World War II. It was Zhukov who saved Leningrad from capture by the Wehrmacht in September 1941, Zhukov who led the defense of Moscow in October 1941, Zhukov who spearheaded the Red Army’s march on Berlin and formally accepted Germany’s unconditional surrender in the spring of 1945. Drawing on the latest research from recently opened Soviet archives, including the uncensored versions of Zhukov’s own memoirs, Roberts offers a vivid portrait of a man whose tactical brilliance was matched only by the cold-blooded ruthlessness with which he pursued his battlefield objectives.

After the war, Zhukov was a key player on the geopolitical scene. As Khrushchev’s defense minister, he was one of the architects of Soviet military strategy during the Cold War. While lauded in the West as a folk hero—he was the only Soviet general ever to appear on the cover of Time magazine—Zhukov repeatedly ran afoul of the Communist political authorities. Wrongfully accused of disloyalty, he was twice banished and erased from his country’s official history—left out of books and paintings depicting Soviet World War II victories. Piercing the hyperbole of the Zhukov personality cult, Roberts debunks many of the myths that have sprung up around Zhukov’s life and career to deliver fresh insights into the marshal’s relationships with Stalin, Khrushchev, and Eisenhower.

A remarkably intimate portrait of a man whose life was lived behind an Iron Curtain of official secrecy, Stalin’s General is an authoritative biography that restores Zhukov to his rightful place in the twentieth-century military pantheon.

This book on Stalin is one of my favourite biographies. Incredibly well written and researched, it is a facinating look into Stalin's early life.

by Simon Sebag Montefiore.

I also have the follow up by Simon Sebag Montefiore, but I haven't read it yet.

A book on the years in exile of the father of Communist Russia, Vladimir Lenin.

Conspirator

by Helen Rappaport

Synopsis

Lenin seems to many historians to have emerged fully formed from the turbulent wake of WWI and the Russian Revolution. But Lenin's character was in fact forged much earlier, argues the author, over the course of years spent in exile, constantly on the move, and in disguise. Scuttling among the capital cities of Europe, Lenin found support among fellow emigres and revolutionaries in the underground movement, eventually leading to a ring of conspirators, many of whom would give their lives in service to his schemes.

This Smithsonian article has been making the rounds. It is about a Russian family living in the isolation of Siberia for over 40 years:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history...

I'm looking for any Russian historical audiobook recommendations if anyone has any ideas?! Thanks

A biography of the four doomed daughters, the Grand Duchesses of the Romanov Empire. Should be interesting.

The Romanov Sisters

by Helen Rappaport

Synopsis:

They were the Princess Dianas of their day—perhaps the most photographed and talked about young royals of the early twentieth century. The four captivating Russian Grand Duchesses—Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Romanov—were much admired for their happy dispositions, their looks, the clothes they wore and their privileged lifestyle.

Over the years, the story of the four Romanov sisters and their tragic end in a basement at Ekaterinburg in 1918 has clouded our view of them, leading to a mass of sentimental and idealized hagiography. With this treasure trove of diaries and letters from the grand duchesses to their friends and family, we learn that they were intelligent, sensitive and perceptive witnesses to the dark turmoil within their immediate family and the ominous approach of the Russian Revolution, the nightmare that would sweep their world away, and them along with it.

The Romanov Sisters sets out to capture the joy as well as the insecurities and poignancy of those young lives against the backdrop of the dying days of late Imperial Russia, World War I and the Russian Revolution. Rappaport aims to present a new and challenging take on the story, drawing extensively on previously unseen or unpublished letters, diaries and archival sources, as well as private collections. It is a book that will surprise people, even aficionados.(

I thoroughly enjoyed the books cited at the bottom of this post.


by Tim Tzouliadis (no photo)

by Douglas Smith .

Hello Lisa - you might want to check out the Mechanics of the Board thread which is the Help Desk folder.

Thank you very much for your recommendations. This is how they should look - Much easier just typing normally and placing the full citations at the bottom of the comment box.

by Tim Tzouliadis (no photo)

When there is no photo = then just add (no photo) at the end rather than the blank icon. We use the book cover, then we type in the word by with a space in front and after the word by and then we add the author's photo if available and then we add the author's link which is his first and last name in linkable text.

Thanks Bentley, I tried to correct it.

by Douglas Smith

You will get there Lisa - just keep plugging away and keep editing and you will get it right.

Remember it is the book cover, then by which you have done well - then the photo of the author comes next and before the link.

In 18 you have the link of the book rather than the book cover, you have the word by inserted well, and then you just typed the name and then added the photo at the end. The photo comes after the word by and then the author's name in linkable text which you do not have.

Here is the link to the Mechanics of the Board thread which gives fairly detailed instructions and you can practice there too:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Red Fortress: The Secret Heart of Russia's History

by Catherine Merridale (no photo)

The extraordinary story of the Kremlin, from prize-winning author and historian Catherine Merridale

Both beautiful and profoundly menacing, the Kremlin has dominated Moscow for many centuries. Behind its great red walls and towers many of the most startling events in Russia's history have been acted out. It is both a real place and an imaginative idea; a shorthand for a certain kind of secretive power, but also the heart of a specific Russian authenticity.

Catherine Merridale's exceptional new book revels in both the drama of the Kremlin and its sheer unexpectedness: an impregnable fortress which has repeatedly been devastated, a symbol of all that is Russian substantially created by Italians. The Kremlin is one of the very few buildings in the world which still keeps its original, late medieval function: as a palace, built to intimidate the ruler's subjects and to frighten foreign emissaries. Red Fortress brilliantly conveys this sense of the Kremlin as a stage set, nearly as potent under Vladimir Putin as it was under earlier, far more baleful inhabitants.

my two cents

Sometimes we gaze out over the red brick walls at pivotal moments taking shape across the vast Russian landscape; sometimes we look down upon the Moskva but most of the time we're on the inside, watching buildings rise and crumble as Byzantine robes give way to red banners.

Neither fish nor fowl, it's easier to say what this book is not. It's not a history of Russia nor a history of Moscow. It's not completely a history of the Kremlin, either. That would entail an in-depth look at the architecture of the complex from medieval times to the post-Soviet restaurations. The buildings mostly come into focus at the stage of construction and demolition, their fragile splendor interpreted as symbols of tsarist power. All this talk of marble and gold would've warranted a substantial illustration section that leaves Putin out of the picture. It's easy to see why he's featured tough: the Kremlin can only be a lightweight subject unless intermingled with the lineage of Russia's rulers over the past thousand years. It doesn't hurt to have some prior knowledge*.

Merridale's own stories as a researcher make clear that the Kremlin is a place where history is an illusion, a reconstructed story of the past, to the Nth degree. While the modern complex may seem an organic whole on display, it is populated by the ghosts of palaces long demolished. Visitors glimpse only a small part of what is left standing, the staff holding the ornate keys to entire churches that silently turn to dust behind hidden gates. Even in the 21st century, the state reserves the right to control the narrative in the interest of its legimitation. In this respect, little has changed since before Alexander Nevsky defeated the Teutonic Knights on the ice (he did not ).
To the Byzantine splendor that defined the timeless otherness of the Russian lands to the Western eye was added the Enlighted veneer of the great Peter and Catherine, as their realm was enlarged across Siberia to the Pacific coast and inched forward at the point of a bayonet on its western borders to redefine Russia as a European Great Power. The Red stars planted upon the domes radiated the legitimacy of Soviet overlordship as the internationalist principle of pre-revolutionary communism gave way to a centralized empire of socialist states under Russia. The rallying cry of Za Rodina was briefly resurrected with Army Group Centre at the gates of Moscow and preserved in the postwar nomenclature of the Great Patriotic War.

And now? The Soviet Union fell a generation ago, the initial euphoria has waned and the geostrategic giant on feet of clay ponders its place in the world. Again, the mass of the Kremlin whispers “It is your destiny to be great”.

* Have your pick at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
* by Simon Sebag Montefiore

I just finished reading Stalin's Daughter. Saw this biography in the library and picked it up. I never knew Stalin had a daughter (and 2 sons). Imagine what your life would look like... The Stalin regime is a sidestory in this biography, so don't expect an insider's story. Nevertheless you get a view from inside Russia. It is more about Svetlana's struggle to get a life she never had: a life of her own. It's a tragic life, but she lived it 100% with all her ups and downs.

by Rosemary Sullivan

Great adds Dmitri and Harmke

Russia and the Curse of Geography

By TIM MARSHALL

Want to understand why Putin does what he does? Look at a map.

Vladimir Putin says he is a religious man, a great supporter of the Russian Orthodox Church. If so, he may well go to bed each night, say his prayers, and ask God: “Why didn’t you put mountains in eastern Ukraine?”

If God had built mountains in eastern Ukraine, then the great expanse of flatland that is the European Plain would not have been such inviting territory for the invaders who have attacked Russia from there repeatedly through history. As things stand, Putin, like Russian leaders before him, likely feels he has no choice but to at least try to control the flatlands to Russia’s west. So it is with landscapes around the world—their physical features imprison political leaders, constraining their choices and room for maneuver. These rules of geography are especially clear in Russia, where power is hard to defend, and where for centuries leaders have compensated by pushing outward.

Western leaders seem to have difficulty deciphering Putin’s motives, especially when it comes to his actions in Ukraine and Syria; Russia’s current leader has been described in terms that evoke Winston Churchill’s famous 1939 observation that Russia “is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma.” But it’s helpful to look at Putin’s military interventions abroad in the context of Russian leaders’ longstanding attempts to deal with geography. What if Putin’s motives aren’t so mysterious after all? What if you can read them clearly on a map?

For Russia, the world’s largest country by landmass, which bestrides Europe and Asia and encompasses forests, lakes, rivers, frozen steppes, and mountains, the problems come by land as well as by sea. In the past 500 years, Russia has been invaded several times from the west. The Poles came across the European Plain in 1605, followed by the Swedes under Charles XII in 1707, the French under Napoleon in 1812, and the Germans—twice, in both world wars, in 1914 and 1941. In Poland, the plain is only 300 miles wide—from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Carpathian Mountains in the south—but after that point it stretches to a width of about 2,000 miles near the Russian border, and from there, it offers a flat route straight to Moscow. Thus Russia’s repeated attempts to occupy Poland throughout history; the country represents a relatively narrow corridor into which Russia could drive its armed forces to block an enemy advance toward its own border, which, being wider, is much harder to defend.


The European Plain, shaded in dark gray. Light gray indicates the shallow sea floor that surrounds the plain. (Jeroen / Wikimedia)

On the other hand, Russia’s vastness has also protected it; by the time an army approaches Moscow, it already has unsustainably long supply lines, which become increasingly difficult to protect as they extend across Russian territory. Napoleon made this mistake in 1812, and Hitler repeated it in 1941.

Just as strategically important—and just as significant to the calculations of Russia’s leaders throughout history—has been the country’s historical lack of its own warm-water port with direct access to the oceans. Many of the country’s ports on the Arctic freeze for several months each year. Vladivostok, the largest Russian port on the Pacific Ocean, is enclosed by the Sea of Japan, which is dominated by the Japanese. This does not just halt the flow of trade into and out of Russia; it prevents the Russian fleet from operating as a global power, as it does not have year-round access to the world’s most important sea-lanes.

* * *

Russia as a concept dates back to the ninth century and a loose federation of East Slavic tribes known as Kievan Rus, which was based in Kiev and other towns along the Dnieper River, in what is now Ukraine. The Mongols, expanding their empire, continually attacked the region from the south and east, eventually overrunning it in the 13th century. The fledgling Russia then relocated northeast in and around the city of Moscow. This early Russia, known as the Grand Principality of Moscow, was indefensible. There were no mountains, no deserts, and few rivers.

Enter Ivan the Terrible, the first tsar. He put into practice the concept of attack as defense—consolidating one’s position at home and then moving outward. Russia had begun a moderate expansion under Ivan’s grandfather, but Ivan accelerated it after he came to power in the 16th century. He extended his territory east to the Ural Mountains, south to the Caspian Sea, and north toward the Arctic Circle. Russia gained access to the Caspian, and later the Black Sea, thus taking advantage of the Caucasus Mountains as a partial barrier between itself and the Mongols. Ivan built a military base in Chechnya to deter any would-be attacker, be they the Mongol Golden Horde, the Ottoman Empire, or the Persians.

Now the Russians had a partial buffer zone and a hinterland—somewhere to fall back to in the case of invasion. No one was going to attack them in force from the Arctic Sea, nor fight their way over the Urals to get to them. Their land was becoming what’s now known as Russia, and to invade it from the south or southeast you would have to have a huge army and a very long supply line, and you would have to fight your way past defensive positions.

In the 18th century, Russia, under Peter the Great—who founded the Russian Empire in 1721—and then Empress Catherine the Great, expanded the empire westward, occupying Ukraine and reaching the Carpathian Mountains. It took over most of what we now know as Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia—from which it could defend against attacks from the Baltic Sea. Now there was a huge ring around Moscow; starting at the Arctic, it came down through the Baltic region, across Ukraine, to the Carpathians, the Black Sea, the Caucasus, and the Caspian, swinging back around to the Urals, which stretched up to the Arctic Circle.

At the end of World War II in 1945, the Russians occupied territory conquered from Germany in Central and Eastern Europe, some of which then became part of the U.S.S.R., as it began to resemble the old Russian Empire writ large. This time, though, it wasn’t the Mongols at the gates; after 1949, it was NATO. The fall of the U.S.S.R. in 1991 caused Russian territory to shrink again, with its European borders ending at Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, even while NATO crept steadily closer as it incorporated more countries in Eastern Europe.


Russia's changing borders

Read the remainder of the article:https://www.theatlantic.com/international/...

Discussion Topics

a) Have you ever visited any of the places mentioned in this article, including cities: (Vladivostok, Kiev, Moscow), mountain ranges (Caucasus, Urals, Carpathians), or seas (Baltic, Black)?

b) Is geography a good lens through which to view the current conflict in Ukraine?

Source: The Atlantic

An April release by Harvard U.P. At 300-something pages, don't expect a deep view.

Russia: The Story of War

by Gregory Carleton(no photo)

Synopsis:

No nation is a stranger to war, but for Russians war is a central part of who they are. Their “motherland” has been the battlefield where some of the largest armies have clashed, the most savage battles have been fought, the highest death tolls paid. Having prevailed over Mongol hordes and vanquished Napoleon and Hitler, many Russians believe no other nation has sacrificed so much for the world. In Russia: The Story of War Gregory Carleton explores how this belief has produced a myth of exceptionalism that pervades Russian culture and politics and has helped forge a national identity rooted in war.

While outsiders view Russia as an aggressor, Russians themselves see a country surrounded by enemies, poised in a permanent defensive crouch as it fights one invader after another. Time and again, history has called upon Russia to play the savior—of Europe, of Christianity, of civilization itself—and its victories, especially over the Nazis in World War II, have come at immense cost. In this telling, even defeats lose their sting. Isolation becomes a virtuous destiny and the whole of its bloody history a point of pride.

War is the unifying thread of Russia’s national epic, one that transcends its wrenching ideological transformations from the archconservative empire to the radical-totalitarian Soviet Union to the resurgent nationalism of the country today. As Putin’s Russia asserts itself in ever bolder ways, knowing how the story of its war-torn past shapes the present is essential to understanding its self-image and worldview.

Thank you Dimitri and Mary

Mary wrote: "Russia and the Curse of Geography

Well, I think Russian problem is this - 'Russians themselves see a country surrounded by enemies.'

When West reached out all the hands to raising democracy in Russia at the end of 1980's, there was a hope. But seems that this enemy searching is too useful when economy at home is collapsing. I saw Russia introduce 'outside enemy' every time when there were problems at home. It' s easier to rule a nation which believes that everyone outside is an enemy.
Sadly, when discussed all these 'poor Russia needs to protect itself' topics, lives of small nations somehow become irrelevant. Not only by Russia but also for the West. Think Baltics. 3 small nations betrayed in Yalta. And might be betrayed again. Why? Just think about ISKANDERs in Kaliningrad now. They can carry nukes halfway across Europe. If NATO will need to decide - 3 Baltic nations or nuked Europe, I 'm rather sure there is only one answer possible, and the hell with the 5th.
Putin wants the empire back and he is no fool.

True, Anna, you make a great case that Western appeasement could come to life once again to the detriment of small nations.

Anna - don't select the reply button because the formatting from the previous post seems to be carried over. Just post your comment - your text is all in italics and I am sure you did not want that. There is a way to add html to stop that but it is easier to just post your comment without selecting reply.

To your point - you are very much pitch perfect regarding Putin and I think a lot of his own countrymen and women would agree - "in private".

Where are you from - just the country - I was trying to understand your perspective - in relationship to the Baltics which I do not disagree with by the way.

I have to ask as many do - what is going on with this current climate of appeasement by the White House - the Congress still seems to be fortunately independent and trying to get to the bottom of things with the intelligence community. But we need to help NATO for sure.

A look at Stalin


Stalin in 1937. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

This lengthy BBC documentary provides archived footage and witness reports to discuss the life and legacy of Stalin.
https://youtu.be/SIzApqzlP3Q

More:

A 25-minute BBC History video on life in Stalin's Russia:
https://youtu.be/pEoDaNpKyAc

A 20-minute examination of Stalin's five-year industrialization plans:
https://youtu.be/F_8e_OUUA2s

Other:

An annotated timeline of Stalin's life:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z8nbcdm

Biography of Stalin:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_...

How Stalin invented American exceptionalism:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...

Russia's resurgent love for Stalin:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/feat...

Books about Stalin

by Oleg V. Khlevniuk (no photo)

by Timothy Snyder

by Anne Applebaum

Discussion Topics

1) What do you think about Stalin's increasing popularity in Russia?

2) Putin regularly gets likened to Stalin. Is this justified?

Very dangerous - he killed so many of his own people. If Putin is likened to Stalin - that is not good. They are both strongmen and not in a good sense of the word.

1)What do you think about Stalin's increasing popularity in Russia?

It's a clear indicator of a nation in distress. All of the following factors, to my mind, negatively affect the situation or directly contribute to it:
- Overall public education decline, specifically humanitarian studies.
- Shrinking revenues and sagging quality of life during the last two years. The short and mid-term perspectives analysis offers little hope for improvement, hence the public tends to isolate itself from the rest of the world and to feast on its redoubtable past when life was so certain and Father of the Nation was in charge of all decision making.
- Aging population feeling excluded and lost in modern realities.
- No homework was done, i.e. trial archives remain sealed, no public discussion or discourse was organized and Stalin still sleeps comfortably by the Kremlin walls.
- Moreover, I do believe this movement is directly supported by former NKVD/MVD officers and their offspring (and approved by the current president as he emerged from the same institution) who are willing to maintain their privileged position. Their family trees foliage should be quite exuberant e.g. in March 1940 the Gulag camp system employed 107 000 officers as guards and convoy.

2)Putin regularly gets likened to Stalin. Is this justified?

Hopefully, not yet.

And speaking about the Gulags:
by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Synopsis
In this masterpiece, the author of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The First Circle has orchestrated thousands of incidents and individual histories into one narrative of unflagging power and momentum. Written in a tone that encompasses Olympian wrath, bitter calm, savage irony and sheer comedy, it combines history, autobiography, documentary and political analysis as it examines in its totality the Soviet apparatus of repression from its inception following the October revolution of 1917.

The "Archipelago" of Mr. Solzhenitsyn's work is the network of secret police installations, camps, prisons, transit centers, communications facilities, transportation systems and espionage organizations which, in his view, honeycombs the length and breadth of the Soviet Union.

For instant introduction into his universe short stories are available:

or by

Well said, Yunna. I read The Gulag Archipelago many years ago and now I'd like to reread it. I remember that the book profoundly moved me, both because of the cruelty and the human spirit that was exhibited. I believe the gulag system was dismantled some years ago but the camps are still in use, because I remember that several members of the punk band Pussy Riot ended up in one. Do you know if there is any real difference between today's camps and the gulags? It seems that the camps continue to be a form of social intimidation.

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Thank you, Mary. Some really deficient ones, located in the permafrost zone, were closed down but the core remains intact.
I would dare to hope that death stats are much better now, although no reliable info is available. Journalists report numerous facts of murder, torture and other types of abuse in the republic of Mordovia camps - region known for its numerous corrective labor colonies and where the PR gal purged her performance. Living conditions are poor and supervising agencies are blinded, so it is intimidating indeed.

Here is another biography book on the Gulag camps:
by Varlam Shalamov

Synopsis
It is estimated that some three million people died in the Soviet forced-labour camps of Kolyma, in the northeastern area of Siberia. Shalamov himself spent seventeen years there, and in these stories he vividly captures the lives of ordinary people caught up in terrible circumstances, whose hopes and plans extended to further than a few hours.

Yunna, thanks for the recommendation. It's hard to imagine someone surviving for 17 years in the brutality of a Kolyma camp. My library has a copy so I'm going to pick it up.

Mary, it's pure luck, I suppose. Looking forward to your review!

Return to Cold War

by Robert Legvold (no photo)

Synopsis:

The 2014 crisis in Ukraine sent a tottering U.S.-Russian relationship over a cliff - a dangerous descent into deep mistrust, severed ties, and potential confrontation reminiscent of the Cold War period.

In this incisive new analysis, leading expert on Soviet and Russian foreign policy, Robert Legvold, explores in detail this qualitatively new phase in a relationship that has alternated between hope and disappointment for much of the past two decades. Tracing the long and tortured path leading to this critical juncture, he contends that the recent deterioration of Russia-U.S. relations deserves to be understood as a return to cold war with great and lasting consequences. In drawing out the commonalities between the original cold war and the current confrontation, "Return to Cold War" brings a fresh perspective to what is happening between the two countries, its broader significance beyond the immediate issues of the day, and how political leaders in both countries might adjust their approaches in order, as the author urges, to make this new cold war as short and shallow as possible.

Discussion Topics:

1. Do you agree with the author that a new Cold War exists today? How are relations the same and how is they different?

2. Do you think the current situation between the US and Russia are more or less dangerous than in the 20th century?

Stumbled upon this within a search on Soviet foods. Google books made a few pages per chapter accessible. While the tone is fairly factual, it brings the deprived mood across.

Daily Life in the Soviet Union

by Katherine B. Eaton(no photo)

Synopsis:

Details what ordinary life was like during the extraordinary years of the reign of Soviet Union. Thirty-six illustrations, thematic chapters, a glossary, timeline, annotated multimedia bibliography, and detailed index make it a sound starting point for looking at this powerful nation's immediate past.

What was ordinary life like in the Soviet police state? The phrase daily life implies an orderly routine in a stable environment. However, many millions of Soviet citizens experienced repeated upheavals in their everyday lives. Soviet citizens were forced to endure revolution, civil war, two World Wars, forced collectivization, famine, massive deportations, mass terror campaigns perpetrated against them by their own leaders, and chronic material deprivations. Even the perpetrators often became victims. Many millions, of all ages, nationalities, and walks of life, did not survive these experiences. At the same time, millions managed to live tranquilly, work in factories, farm the fields, serve in the military, and even find joy in their existence.

Structured topically, this volume begins with an historical introduction to the Soviet period (1917-1991) and a timeline. Chapters that follow are devoted to such core topics as: government and law, the economy, the military, rural life, education, health care, housing, ethnic groups, religion, the media, leisure, popular culture, and the arts. The volume also has two maps, including a map of ethnic groups and languages, and over thirty photographs of people going about their lives in good times and bad. A glossary, a list of student-friendly books and multimedia sources for classroom and/or individual use, and an index round out the work, making it a valuable resource for high school as well as undergraduate courses on modern Russian and Soviet history. Copious chapter endnotes provide numerous starting points for students and teachers who want to delve more deeply.

Dimitri I think you have extra blank lines between the paragraphs - please edit.

But thank you for the add - enlightening.

Bentley wrote: "Dimitri I think you have extra blank lines between the paragraphs - please edit.

But thank you for the add - enlightening."

done. Bentley, you are a GR librarian: Could you perhaps edit these extra blank lines out of the synopsis on the book's own page ?

Thank you Dimitri. Interesting. You are saying that the extra blank lines were added by a librarian member when adding the book. I will look into it.

The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire and Germany's Bid for World Power

by Sean McMeekin (no photo)

Synopsis:

The modern Middle East was forged in the crucible of the First World War, but few know the full story of how war actually came to the region.

As Sean McMeekin reveals in this startling reinterpretation of the war, it was neither the British nor the French but rather a small clique of Germans and Turks who thrust the Islamic world into the conflict for their own political, economic, and military ends.

"The Berlin-Baghdad Express" tells the fascinating story of how Germany exploited Ottoman pan-Islamism in order to destroy the British Empire, then the largest Islamic power in the world. Meanwhile the Young Turks harnessed themselves to German military might to avenge Turkey s hereditary enemy, Russia.

Told from the perspective of the key decision-makers on the Turco-German side, many of the most consequential events of World War I Turkey s entry into the war, Gallipoli, the Armenian massacres, the Arab revolt, and the Russian Revolution are illuminated as never before.

Drawing on a wealth of new sources, McMeekin forces us to re-examine Western interference in the Middle East and its lamentable results.

It is an epic tragicomedy of unintended consequences, as Turkish nationalists give Russia the war it desperately wants, jihad begets an Islamic insurrection in Mecca, German sabotage plots upend the Tsar delivering Turkey from Russia s yoke, and German Zionism midwifes the Balfour Declaration.

All along, the story is interwoven with the drama surrounding German efforts to complete the Berlin to Baghdad railway, the weapon designed to win the war and assure German hegemony over the Middle East.

Just finished On Lieninski Prospect Avenue. Anyone else? Thoughts?

Sale of the Century: Russia's Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism

by Chrystia Freeland

Synopsis:

In the 1990s, all eyes turned to the momentous changes in Russia, as the world's largest country was transformed into the world's newest democracy. But the heroic images of Boris Yeltsin atop a tank in front of Moscow's White House soon turned to grim new realities: a currency in freefall and a war in Chechnya; on the street, flashy new money and a vicious Russian mafia contrasted with doctors and teachers not receiving salaries for months at a time. If this was what capitalism brought, many Russians wondered if they weren't better off under the communists.

This new society did not just appear ready-made: it was created by a handful of powerful men who came to be known as the oligarchs and the young reformers. The oligarchs were fast-talking businessmen who laid claim to Russia's vast natural resources. The young reformers were an elite group of egghead economists who got to put their wild theories into action, with results that were sometimes inspiring, sometimes devastating. With unparalleled access and acute insight, Chrystia Freeland takes us behind the scenes and shows us how these two groups misused a historic opportunity to build a new Russia. Their achievements were considerable, but their mistakes will deform Russian society for generations to come.

Along with a gripping account of the incredible events in Russia's corridors of power, Freeland gives us a vivid sense of the buzz and hustle of the new Russia, and inside stories of the businesses that have beaten the odds and become successful and profitable. She also exposes the conflicts and compromises that developed when red directors of old Soviet firms and factories yielded to -- or fought -- the radically new ways of doing business. She delves into the loophole economy, where anyone who knows how to manipulate the new rules can make a fast buck. Sale of the Century is a fascinating fly-on-the-wall economic thriller -- an astonishing and essential account of who really controls Russia's new frontier.