I've read the first two installments in the Songs in the Night series. Both were excellent reads, with Under His Watchful Eye being even better than the first. I couldn't put it down. As a library director, I have recommended to many of my patrons and nearly everyone has rated it a ten! I'm waiting for the third book to come out this year...hopefully.

"Historical Dictionary of Belarus" consists of four parts: chronology of historical events (from the earliest times to our days); overview of Belarus's history; a dictionary part (over 400 articles and biographical sketches); bibliography (including citations in English, with articles from Belarusian Review); and a supplement "Rulers of Belarus" (from Duke Rahvalod to President Luukashenka). The volume has two maps: one indicating Belarus' main cities and towns (courtesy of Belarusian Review) and the other showing the strategic location of Belarus in the East European context. As of today, Zaprudnik's book is the only English-language source of data on Belarus' past and present. The volume provides essential information on historical personages, current figures, political parties and their leaders; it has articles on archeology, early tribes, main rivers, major battles, economy, education, historiography, demography, language, culture, literature, arts, religion, national idea, the Belarusian diaspora, recent referenda, parliament, human rights, etc. In the article on alphabets, two sets of characters are given: Cyrillic and Latin. This will be of assistance to those who are not familiar with the Belarusian Latin and Cyrillic alphabets that have been and are still used. The easy style of the dictionary will enable English speaking families with Belarusian heritage in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia to use the book in explaining to their children and grandchildren the country of their origin and its present status in the world. The book could also be helpful to those who are learning English and wish to inform their foreign friends about Belarus.

This is the first and probably still the best history of russian and polish jews. Written in russian before the WWI it did appear in english in three volumes in 1916, 1918 and 1920. ( up to my knowledge there is no russian edition of the book) Book of S. W. Baron written some 50 years after has aditional information but still book of Dubnow gives a lot of original research for the first time. Aniway it is different in approach with underlying philosophy of Dubnow's jewish history.

Reviewed by Johanna Granville, Clemson University, Clemson, SC USA

James Forsyth's History of the Peoples of Siberia: Russia's North Asian Colony, 1581-1990 is a much needed addition to the extant literature on Soviet history. The policies of glasnost and end of censorship after the 1991 Soviet collapse have led to greater interest in the history of non-Russian nationalities. The dearth of reliable historical information on Russia east of the Urals is becoming increasingly clear as Siberia and the Russian Pacific littoral develop into a significant geopolitical and economic entity. Russia's expansion eastward may have been as defining for Russian society as was the United States' advance westward for American society. Thus, it is surprising that historians are just beginning to concentrate on this vast landscape. This is not to say that Western scholarship has completely overlooked Asiatic Russia, but there is still much work to do. In this ethnohistory of Siberia, Forsyth attempts to "narrate and interpret the stages in the conquest and exploitation of Siberia" (defined as "everything lying east of 60 degrees E and 50 degrees N") and "the place of this process in Russian and world history." Forsyth's narrative tends to emphasize the role of ordinary people--the inhabitants of Siberia--rather than of prominent decision makers. He raises several questions about the indigenous peoples of Siberia (e.g. Buryat Mongols, Yakuts, Tatars, Samoyeds, Tunguses, and Chukchis). What was the role of the native peoples, who up to the 18th century, inhabited Siberia? Who were they, and how did they live before the Russian invasion? How did the Russian invasion affect their lives? Has the fate of the Siberian natives been similar to that of the Indians and Eskimos of North America? Forsyth's main argument is fairly simple: despite the Leninist rhetoric that the Russian occupation of Siberia was a peaceful process and that it brought the indigenous peoples into contact with a "higher culture," the Siberian peoples in reality suffered a great deal from collectivization, "denomadisation," and the consequent destruction of their traditional cultures and occupations. The book is particularly strong on the early Russian conquest of Siberia after 1456 and the folk heroes like Yermak Timofeyevich who emerged in the process. Forsyth attributes the Russian success in subjugating the indigenous tribes to a number of factors: demanding tribute, trading ruthlessly for furs, dominating by superior numbers, spreading disease (especially smallpox), exploiting intra-tribal conflict, and employing superior firepower. For centuries after taking control of a certain Siberian tribes' land, the Russians would exploit that tribe by requiring them to pay "yasak" (a Turkic word meaning tribute). Yasak was often collected in the form of furs, such as sable, fox, and marten---as precious to the Russians as gold to the Spanish conquistadors in Mexico and Peru. Russian Marxist historians have made Yermak and the Cossacks into folk heroes comparable to the pioneers of the American West. (Just as the Soviet media routinely sanitized news about Soviet society, so historians also self-servingly rewrote history.) However, the actual record of the Cossacks and "voyevodys" may be closer to the genocidal campaigns of the Nazis in the occupied regions of Belarus and the Ukraine. According to Forsyth, these interlopers were "courageous but ruthless men-of-action, mainly belonging to the petty nobility." Both tsarist and Soviet regimes abused the Siberian territory and its aborigines. Whereas the tsarist regimes extracted yasak, furs, and minerals, the Soviet regimes built vast projects in the region that disrupted the environment and local way of life. Gold dredging threatened rivers, industrial pollution affected Lake Baikal, and projects such as the Baikal/Amur railway (BAM) caused ecological damage, while the KGB harrassed local people who complained. Overall, the book is grim on the future of Siberia. The native ethnic groups are still minorities in their own land. Forsyth believes that some communities may resort to creating reservations akin to the ones for Indians in Canada and the United States. The book is solid, but not flawless. Although it synthesizes multivolume ethnographic and historical works of German, imperial Russian, and Soviet scholars in one volume, the extensive bibliography will not benefit those who read neither Russian nor German. Moreover, Forsyth apparently has not worked with recently declassified archival documents, and his balance is skewed a bit toward the seventeenth century. Readers may also find the beginning section on geography extremely dry, and the multitude of ethnic groups confusing. Nevertheless, since the scope of this finely produced book is vast, and its subject very timely, it will indeed benefit both nonspecialists and general readers. It contains twelve useful historical maps of the Siberian region and fifteen illustrations.

Johanna Granville, Clemson University

If you're lucky enough to find this terrific 629 p. volume, published by Yale University Press way back in 1941, and since reprinted, even in translation, you will be rewarded with a first rate account of Ukrainian history by the legendary Ukrainian scholar and patriot, Michael Hrushevsky, who died in 1934 as a result of his imprisonment by the Soviet authorities. It's authoritative, scholarly and very readable.

I enjoyed Homecoming because of how true-to-life it was. They endured more than any family I have ever read about, but it did have a great happy ending. Even though this story took place during the Bolshevik revolution, it's very much like the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany in World War II.

This is by far the most moving book I have ever read. It is an extremely detailed and vivid portrayal of life in a well to do (but not aristocratic) Russian family.

The early parts of the book give a detailed and fascinating histroy of the authors relatives prior to her birth. Then in an gripping and extremely colourful narrative she describes her childhood at the start of this century until the family is forced to flee Russia shortly after the Russian revolution.

This book stirs up such strong images that it is almost like watching a film, and only one I know of is so evocatice. Schindlers List.

There are two other books by Eugenie Fraser. I have not read the second about her life in India after the Second World War , but have been told it is a little disappointing. However her final book 'The Dvina remains' is again a gripping and slightly harrowing account of her return to Archangel and her correspondance with relatives who remained in Russia. Also well worth a read.

I took a class from Earl Braggs as an undergraduate at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga some seven years ago. Reading Braggs' works reminds me how great an influence he is on my life. I have not seen him in a long time, but reading his poetry makes me feel like I talked to him yesterday. His latest installment is very passionate. After reading this book, you will want to buy his other works. Get to know Braggs. You will be better for it.

Eight-year-old Boris is sent to visit his grandmother for some months in turn-of-the-century Russia. Lonely and desperate for playmates, he has to make do with the kindly old lady and his own imagination. He is intrigued by a realistic replica of a sailing ship which is stored high on a shelf in her kitchen. This is the only ojbect in her humble cottage which she will refuses to let him play with, so naturally it acquires additional charm--the attraction of the Forbidden.

But the young boy has a mind of his own, capable of reasoning like an adult. Convinced that the ship actually is housing tiny, living beings, he becomes a master of deception and cunning as he plots how to catch them. He lies to granny and sneaks the tantalizing ship down in her absence. Proving the existence of the little fellows (and capturing one alive for public display) become his obsession. Which leads to inevitable disaster. So, are they real or merely the result of an over-active imagination?

This is an excellent short book to read aloud; be sure to take a vote on this burning question, before revealing the climax. Although I was dissatisfied with the ending, I was spellbound throughout--I only regret that I can read it for the first time but once! I believe this book was based on some incident in the author's childhood and that the manuscript was found by accident. Wonderful pen and ink sketches by Paul O. Zelinsky make this gem a literary conspiracy of Russian Z's! Excellent Fantasy--or Reality...!

How to Get Rich in Russia received a favorable review in the Financial Times on Friday, July 12, 2002, article by Paul Taylor entitled: "A how-to manual for tapping Russia's riches and reforms. Paul Taylor looks at the advice offered by a specialist in investing in the country." "As Jack Matlock, the former US ambassador to the Soviet Union, notes in the foreword, there are very few books that describe as succinctly and clearly how the Russian stock market works as well as its legal and regulatory context."