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Contending With Stalinism: Soviet Power and Popular Resistance in the 1930s 1 review
Cornell University Press, 2002
Great book for history buffs and builders alike!
What a great book to give the reader a background about the history of the Adirondack. It not only tells you how to build a Guideboat blut it explains why it part was designed the way it was. It is truly a must read for anyone who is interested in Adirondack history, small wooden boats or woodworking. I can not recommend this book any higher.
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Child of the Kulaks3 reviews
Alex Saranin
International Specialized Book Services, 1998
A lost childhood
Alex Saranin's story is a vivid description of the first lost generation of Soviet Russia, millions of children lost their parents into the civil war, collectivization and other soviet human mills and it's aftermath. The great suffering endured by them and the waste of lives and souls is great evidence of these terrible whirling years into which a whole generation was engulfed.
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The Soviet Economy and the Red Army, 1930-19451 review
Walter S. Dunn
Praeger Publishers, 1995
Another classic from Dunn, but what a style
This book is, once again, a classic. It is the best extant survey of Soviet wartime production and its raw data is -alone- worth its (very high) price. It demonstrates quite clearly the immense scale of the effort made by the Soviet Union in its desperate struggle with Nazi Germany and shows how, by employing mass production methods influenced directly by American procedures and by disdaining ...
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Russia Upside Down1 review
Frank Columbus
Kroshka Books, 1999
Engaging, candid, revealing, insightful novel.
Russia Upside Down is the story of the Kuladze family and their life in the Soviet Union from the social upheavals of the 1920s, through the terror of the 30s, and the horrors of World War II. We are shown the originally enthusiasm for Khrushcev turn to bitter disappointment as his economic policies failed and this smiling Khrushchev became one of the worst of the Soviet persecutors of the ...
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Surviving the Storms: Memory of Stalin's Tyranny1 review
Helen Dmitriew
California State University (Fresno), 1994
Great book and great Woman
An insightful account of life during the Soviet Period. The authour, Helen Dmitriew, shares how her love for God and family helped her through this very difficult time. After reading this book, it is diffcult to compare today's easy times with the brutal realities that faced our parents and grandparents during the first half of this century.
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Disappearance1 review
Yuri Trifonov
Ardis, 1991
EAST SIDE STORY
DISAPPEARANCE was first published in 1987, six years after Yury Trifonov's death. It's an unfinished novel that is nonetheless magistral. The novel describes some events that shook the life of the Boiakine family during the 1925-1943 period approximately. This period was marked by the irresistible political rise of Joseph Staline and the first purges organized by the communist party of the late ...
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The Green Lantern: A Romance of Stalinist Russia1 review
Jerome Charyn
Da Capo Press, 2004
One of the best historical novels I've read
I can't disagree more with the Washington Post review. I started reading it because I had nothing else better to do and then suddenly I was transported into Stalinist era of the 1930s. I feel I need to find out what I can about this author who has achieved something close to witchcraft by re-creating the psychological (un)reality of that era. I almost laughed when I read the reviewer's complaints ...
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The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s34 reviews
Piers Brendon
Knopf, 2000
Scintillating history
Comprised of a set of chapters in three or so rotations on such splendid characters as Hitler, Mussolini, Petain, Franco, Stalin, and even Hirohito and his generals. I could not stop reading this hefty volume and regret that it ended where it should have logically ended. The book bears comparison to the more breathless writings of Anthony Beevor and I heartily recommend it to specialists and to ...
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Nina's Journey: A Memoir of Stalin's Russia & the Second World War7 reviews
Nina Markovna
Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1989
Heart wrenching memoir
Having never truly suffered, most Americans born in the post war years as I was can not really grasp the supreme tenacity of the human spirit. Nina's Journey opened my eyes to just how much suffering brings out the absolute best in some people, the demonic worst in others. Nina Markovna lived in the Soviet Union under Stalin, when "comrade-citizens" living in constant fear of nighttime purges ...
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The Stalin Era1 review
Taylor & Francis, 2002
Highly recommended-- a first-rate source book
This is an excellent contribution to the field of Russian studies. While it can surely stand alone as an enlightening and engaging compilation for the general reader with an interest in recent Russian and Soviet history, the book's principal applications (and one assumes marketability) likely lie elsewhere: as a key supplementary text for college courses on 20th century Russia and as a helpful ...
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Child 44 109 reviews
Tom Rob Smith
Hachette Audio, 2008
A Complete Treat
First book in quite a while that was both sit-on-the-edge-of-your-chair exciting and had an interesting story and characters as well. I found it very realistic except for one unbelievable detail that I'm going to overlook in my rating because I still enjoyed this read a lot. Quite unpredictable and surprising from cover to cover. The stories of people in 1950's Russia under Stalin's rule were ...
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Stalinism as a Way of Life 4 reviews
Yale University Press, 2004
Stalinism as it really was
Stalinism as a Way of Life is collection of first hand accounts of the people who actually lived in Stalin's Russia. This book is wonderful if you are interested in the everyday life of the Russian people. Warning, if you get sick of everyone complaining because they have no shoes then this book is not for you. If you are more interested in the political aspects of the politburo then Getty's ...
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Russia's War35 reviews
Richard Overy
TV Books, 1998
Russia's War
`Russia's War' is a riveting, fact-filled history of the Russian experience in WW2. British historian, Richard Overy takes the reader first through the pre-war years in Soviet Russia, and continues with a chronological account of the war on the eastern front. This is a military as well as a political history. Not only does he thoroughly describe all the major battles such as Barbarossa, Moscow, ...
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Darkness at Noon92 reviews
Arthur Koestler
Bantam, 1984
Psychological Examination of Stalinist show trials
Set during the Stalinist purges and show trials, `Darkness at Noon' presents a fictionalized account of the interrogation and breaking of a (former) communist leader `Rubashov'. Under Stalin, former communist leaders were those persons about to be executed, already executed, or waiting to be uncovered. As an original Bolshevik, a leader of the 1917 revolution, Rubashov's disillusionment was ...
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The Testament: A novel2 reviews
Elie Wiesel
Schocken, 1999
The Testament - A Weisel Sleeper
Weisel delved deep into the complex nature of humans and the human attempt to deal with society's constantly changing moral/ethical guides. I know I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come. Although the topic can be depressing, Weisel finds the beauty in the way his characters deal with the problems in front of them.
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Ahead of Time: My Early Years As a Foreign Correspondent6 reviews
Ruth Gruber
Wynwood, 1991
Backstory for HAVEN Miniseries
Many of you who see the CBS miniseries will be reading and loving HAVEN,the book, but may be puzzled that the material on Ruth's experiences in 1930s Germany are --missing. Look no further! The information is here. If you are hooked on HAVEN you will want to read this book also, because the flashbacks to Germany are entirely taken from AHEAD OF TIME. It's also a great book. As Joan Michel wrote ...
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Russia at War: 1941-194522 reviews
Alexander Werth
Basic Books, 1999
Monumental
Years ago I got this book because I have always been interested in WWII. It was such an exspansive book that I kept putting off reading it. However, the more and more I read about aspects of the Eastern Front, the more I realized that I was missing the big picture. I realized that I needed to read "Russia at War" in order to put things in perspective. I took a deep breath and found myself ...
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The Unquiet Ghost: Russians Remember Stalin11 reviews
Adam Hochschild
Viking Adult, 1994
Well Written and Insightful
This is a very important subject that Hochschild writes about with an engaging clarity and objectivity. He eloquently generalizes his observations on Russian attempts to confront its Stalinist history to remarks about human nature in general. His searing criticism of Western leaders who toured the Soviet Union during Stalin's time and found all to be well is made all the more credible given ...
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Our Daily Bread: Socialist Distributions and the Art of Survival in Stalin's Russia, 1927-1941 (New Russian ...2 reviews
E. A. Osokina, Kate S. Transchel, ...
M.E. Sharpe, 2001
Former student also
While I have not read this book, I took two courses from Professor Osokina at (then) Southwest Missouri State University and she is a very articulate and knowledgeable scholar who is enthusiastic about her area of knowledge. I am looking forward to reading this book, despite the translation issues aired by the previous reviewer!
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Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar85 reviews
Simon Sebag Montefiore
Knopf, 2004
A delicious read
Josef Stalin was an artist. While some artists work in clay, oils or water color, Stalin worked in mass murder. It was his medium and he was a virtuoso. And just as Picasso's style shifted from his pink to his blue period, Stalin's abattoir art developed through his Trotskyite period, his old guard Bolshevik period, his military officer period, his Jewish period, his doctor's period, his ...
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