How did a malevolent miserable tale-telling brat who often came to school stinking of urine become a model for millions of young Communists across the Soviet Union? In the 1980s Yuri Druzhnikov decided to find out the truth behind Pavlik Morozov -- allegedly killed by relatives in the 1930s for informing the authorities that his father was hoarding grain -- and produced this stunning book. By talking to Morozov's mother, neighbours and some of the police investigators on the case he builds up a very different picture from the public myth. To say too much more would betray his conclusions, but it's safe to say that here is another of those books which no self-respecting historian of Stalinism can afford to ignore.

For a pocket full of information, take along the Insight Compact Guide to St. Petersburg. It has starred attractions keyed to a map and to walking tours. Coverage of the Hermitage, including a map, is excellent. Read some of the bigger guidebooks for background before you leave home, then just take this small-but-mighty book along as your guide.

Wow, Roger Williams has edited a wonderful book! This travel guide is much more than a basic Fodor's or Mobil type guide. It is full of beautiful full-color photographs-- I would say a couple hundred... In fact every page has at least one photo. "Baltic States" is printed on high quality paper and reads much like a great pictorial magazine.

This is not to say it is a light-weight when it comes to material. There is substantial history and background included. It's enough to satisfy your interest, but not so much that it turns into an overbearing text book.

Equal treatment is given to all three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It guides you though the must see attractions as well as historical spots. As I read it, I felt as though I had a person walking side by side through the various sights.

Another thing I love is their "Yellow Pages" format for the nitty gritty travel details at the back of the book. You'll find all the basics you need to know that all the other good travel guides would offer. Obviously they do this to make it easier to produce new editions, as well as locating all the key facts with an easy to use format.

This book receives my highest recommendation for an incredible travel guide and addition to your home library.

It's really a shame that The Insulted and Injured is as hard to find as it is; though it's not on as grand a scale as most of Dostoevsky's better known novels, it may be as touching as anything he wrote. Narrated by a young author, Vanya, who has just released his first novel (which bears an obvious resemblance to Dostoevsky's own first novel, Poor Folk, making me wonder how much of the story might be autobiographical), it consists of two gradually converging subplots. One deals with Vanya's close friend and former love object, Natasha, who has left her family to live with her new lover, Alyosha. Alyosha is the saintly but dimwitted son of Prince Valkovsky, who hopes to gain financially by marrying Alyosha off to an heiress, Katya. Valkovsky's cruel machinations to break up Alyosha and Natasha make him one of the most memorable "predatory types" (a la Stavrogin in The Possessed) that Dostoevsky created. The other branch of the plot deals with the approximately 13-year old orphan Nellie, whom Vanya saves from an abusive household by taking her into his apartment, and whose deceased mother's story in some ways parallels that of Natasha. It's unusual to see a well-developed character as young as Nellie in a Dostoevsky novel, but Nellie may be one of his most moving creations, and she in particular shows the influence of Dickens (whom Dostoevsky is known to have read during the Siberian exile near the end of which this novel was conceived).

The Insulted and Injured could justly be criticized for melodrama, as the characters' behavior is a bit too extreme to be believed. There's not even a hint of jealousy anywhere in the love quadrilateral between Vanya, Natasha, Alyosha, and Katya, as none of them want anything other than the happiness of their beloved--whether that happiness is with someone else is utterly (and unrealistically) immaterial to them. Also, at the other end of the spectrum, Prince Valkovsky is rather implausibly evil, especially toward his own son, who though not exactly brilliant has done nothing to justify Valkovsky's cruelty. However, these extreme charcters make the novel very emotionally involving and didn't realy bother me while I was reading it, though of course your mileage may vary.

One of the most important themes throughout Dostoevsky's work is the expiative value of suffering, and The Insulted and Injured, with its tragically moving plot and characters, develops that theme splendidly. At this writing, unfortunately, Amazon lists it as unavailable; hopefully that will change soon. (Also, although at present the out-of-print search service isn't offered for this translation, it is available for a translation under the title "The Insulted and Humiliated," so you might try searching under that title.)

Excellent historical details and great starting point for understanding the Victorian-era cavalry troop. Great pictures, documents,and maps aid in understanding the life and times of a dragoon/lancer/hussar during the Crimean War.

All too often people think of the Enlightenment as a group of smart people thinking about why we are so wonderful. The flip side of Enlightenment thinking is that to make Europeans seem so wonderful, the Philosophes described themselves against an Other, who possessed all the undesirable traits not accepted by the "Enlightened" people. Wolff shows how the Philosophes, with limited actual knowledge of Eastern Europe, used the civilizations east of Germany to show the benefits of living in the West. During the Enlightenment the language used to describe Eastern Europe ascribed barbaric qualities to the people and offered little faith that the people could ever "evolve" as Western Europeans had. Wolff uses maps and traveler's accounts to show the influence the philosphes had on perceptions of Eastern Europe. It is rather disconcerting to note that many of these same perceptions persist today.

A good resource for Russian history in Russian language. Nicely researched and thorough.

The big personal question facing everyone in life is how to live. In the former Soviet Union the choices were none too many. The life and times of Ivan Petrov is a portrayal of state interfence run amok. It's also about a person too far gone to care. Drunk as a skunk and stumbling through the wasteland of the country, Ivan tells it like it was with his eyes bleary and swollen but still wide open. At times, I was horrified reading this book. At other times I laughed out loud. That's the great part about it. Despite his dire cirmcumstances, there was still a sense of humor about his given situation. The whole book speaks to the human condition. It makes you consider your own life and the choices you've made. An excellent primer and first hand look at the former Soveit Union. I loved this book!

Robert Payne's "Ivan The Terrible" is sensational. The book, in addition to being a great historical research project, is also a lively read. Though it nears 500 pages, this book manages to navigate Ivan the Terrible's life in detail, without continual sidetracking or nitpicking. The pace of the book moves well and is free of dead sections that seem to be aimed at specialists instead of the lay reader.

The danger in writing a biography on someone like Ivan the Terrible is to psychoanalyze and read too much into the turbulent times and events. While Payne offers some explanations for the erratic and awful behavior of the Grand Prince of Muscovy, he certainly doesn't try to explain away, apologize or revise the life of Ivan.

There is also a tendency in biography to get mired down in political intrigues and military minutae of the times. While there is certainly plenty of intrigue and military history, the book never wanders far from the subject matter which is Ivan, a man possessed by history, demons and angels.

This book may not satisfy the specialist, who might yearn for more detail and more footnotes, but it is certainly a good, solid starting point for someone wanting to know more about Ivan the Terrible.

Payne has done a great service for Russian history buffs.