Russia Books - Page 5

Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools

John Giduck

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Read it and act upon it 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This story is a tragedy through and through. What happened in Russia cannot be allowed to happen here. It's time to stop being politically correct pandering to fanatics. These people do not understand good will, they only respect ferocity that is greater than their own.
Mr. Giduck puts you on the ground, at the school. You will hear the children , you will feel the anguish, and you will become angry. You will not be able to put this book down.
SSG John Tidona
NYG G3 NCOIC

Connecting the Dots 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

A fantastic book that connects the dots of terrorist acts in Russia to those in the U.S., the Middle East, Africa and Israel. Should be required reading for school administrators, military and law enforcement officers.

The attrocities committed by the terrorists are difficult to read about, but necessary in order to understand. I applaud the author for recognizing the contributions that can be made by the general population. It has been a long time since the public at large have been engaged in the defense of this country, and that needs to change as soon as possible.

I waited a long time to get this book, because it was sold out everywhere I looked, and now I understand why.

Editorial Review:

The complete and accurate story of the Beslan School Siege that occurred in Russia on September 1, 2004. This book tells the untold story about the victims, the soldiers who were there and the history of the events leading up to the tragic incident. But more than just the story, this book highlights the lessons America's school system can learn from the tragedy to protect itself from terrorism.

Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon

Ed Offley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

One Navy admiral called it “one of the greatest unsolved sea mysteries of our era.” The U.S. Navy officially describes it an inexplicable accident. For decades, the real story of the disaster eluded journalists, historians, and the family members of the lost crew. But a small handful of Navy and government officials knew the truth: The sinking of the U.S.S. Scorpion on May 22, 1968, was an act of war. In Scorpion Down, military reporter Ed Offley reveals that the true cause of the Scorpion’s sinking was buried by the U.S. government in an attempt to keep the Cold War from turning hot. For five months, the families of the Scorpion crew waited while the Navy searched feverishly for the missing submarine. For the first time, Offley reveals that entire search was cover-up, devised to conceal that fact that the Scorpion had been torpedoed by the Soviets. In this gripping and controversial book, Offley takes the reader inside the shadowy world of the Cold War military, where rival superpowers fought secret battles far below the surface of the sea.

KORSUN POCKET, THE: The Encirclement and Breakout of a German Army in the East, 1944

Niklas Zetterling, Anders Frankson

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Subjects -> History -> Military -> World War II -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

During the second half of 1943, after the failure at Kursk, Germany's Army Group South fell back from Russia under repeated hammer blows from the Red Army. Under Erich von Manstein, however, the Germans were able to avoid serious defeats, while at the same time fending off Hitler's insane orders to hold on to useless territory.

Then, in January 1944, a disaster happened. Six divisions of Army Group South became surrounded after sudden attacks by the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts under command of generals Nikolai Vatutin and Ivan Konev around the village of Korsun (near the larger town of Cherkassy on the Dnieper). The Germans' greatest fear was the prospect of another Stalingrad, the catastrophe that had occurred precisely one year before.

This time, though, Manstein was in control from the start, and he immediately rearranged his Army Group to rescue his trapped divisions. A major panzer drive got underway, led by General der Panzertruppen Hans Hube, a survivor from Stalingrad pocket, which promptly ran up against several soviet tank armies. Leading the break-in was Franz Baeke with his Tiger and Panther-tanks. Due to both weather and ferocious resistance, the German drive stalled. Ju-52s still flew into Korsun's airfield, delivering supplies and taking out wounded, but it soon became apparent that only one option remained for the beleaguered defenders: breakout.

Without consulting Hitler, on the night of February 16 Manstein ordered the breakout to begin. Led by the strongest formation within the pocket, SS Wiking, the trapped forces surged out and soon rejoined the surrounding panzer divisions who had been fully engaged in weakening the ring.

When dawn broke, the Soviets realized their prey was escaping. Although the Germans within the pocket lost nearly all of their heavy weapons and left many wounded behind, their escape was effected. Stalin, having anticipated another Stalingrad, was left with little but an empty bag, as Army Group South-this time-had pulled off a rescue.

In The Korsun Pocket, Niklas Zetterling, a researcher at the Swedish Defense College since 1995 and Anders Frankson, have provided a highly detailed and often breathtaking account of one of the most dramatic battles of World War II. From grand strategy to soldiers' voices on the ground, including expert statistical analysis, the action, and the stakes, of the battle at Korsun are made vividly clear.

REVIEWS

"...compelling prose, abundant tactical detail, lots of maps, a clear narrative of events and running analysis of the battle as it unfolds. If you're hungering for a good WWII East Front battle book, look no further... It's very well done." Magweb.com, 10/2008

"...provides a fascinating insight into a little known event within the vast Eastern front conflict... those who read this book will discover something they have not read about before."Military Modeling.com, 11/2008

"..a story well told...maintains a level of observation at the human scale and is packed with detail...Highly recommended..."Play History, 11/2008

Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia

Orlando Figes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

a Slice of History 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Bought Natasha's Dance upon recommendation of a friend. Have only just started reading, but I am captivated by the passion and detail of Figes writing and quite looking forward to delving more deeply into this history of the Russian people.

Like Taking An Excellent College Overview Course 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Sure this book didn't include everything that could be said about the cultural history of Russia, but what it said and how it said it was superb. You really get an appreciation for the great themes of intellectual thought. It reminded me of what it was like to take college history classes taught by the best professors on campus, back in the day.

Editorial Review:

Beginning in the eighteenth century with the building of St. Petersburg and culminating with the Soviet regime, Figes examines how writers, artists, and musicians grappled with the idea of Russia itself--its character, spiritual essence, and destiny. Skillfully interweaving the great works--by Dostoevsky, Stravinsky, and Chagall--with folk embroidery, peasant songs, religious icons, and all the customs of daily life, Figes reveals the spirit of "Russianness" as rich and uplifting, complex and contradictory--and more lasting than any Russian ruler or state.

The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin's Secret Service

Andrew Meier

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> General
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Filled with dramatic revelations, The Lost Spy may be the most important American spy story to come along in a generation.

For half a century, the case of Isaiah Oggins, a 1920s New York intellectual brutally murdered in 1947 on Stalin's orders, remained hidden in the secret files of the KGB and the FBI—a footnote buried in the rubble of the Cold War. Then, in 1992, it surfaced briefly, when Boris Yeltsin handed over a deeply censored dossier to the White House. The Lost Spy at last reveals the truth: Oggins was one of the first Americans to spy for the Soviets.

Based on six years of international sleuthing, The Lost Spy traces Oggins's rise in beguiling detail—a brilliant Columbia University graduate sent to run a safe house in Berlin and spy on the Romanovs in Paris and the Japanese in Manchuria—and his fall: death by poisoning in a KGB laboratory. As harrowing as Darkness at Noon and as tragic as Dr. Zhivago, The Lost Spy is one of the great nonfiction detective stories of our time. 16 pages of illustrations.

The New Cold War: Putin's Russia and the Threat to the West

Edward Lucas

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In late 1999 when Vladimir Putin was named Prime Minister, Russia was a budding democracy. Multiple parties campaigned for seats in the Duma, the nation’s parliament. The media criticized the government freely. Eight years later as Putin completes his second term as president of Russia and announces his bid for prime minister, the country is under a repressive regime. Human rights abuses are widespread. The Kremlin is openly hostile to the West. Yet the United States and Europe have been slow to confront the new reality, in effect, helping Russia win what experts are now calling the New Cold War.

Edward Lucas, former Moscow Bureau Chief for The Economist, offers a harrowing portrait from inside Russia as well as a sobering political assessment of what the New Cold War will mean for the world. In this big, hard hitting and urgently needed book, he shows how

* Russia is pursuing global energy markets
* Neighboring nations are being coerced back into the former Soviet orbit
* Journalists and dissidents are being silenced
* Foreign investments and private enterprises are routinely defrauded
* Putin is laying the groundwork for controlling industry and planning his new role as prime minister

Drawing on new and hitherto reported material, The New Cold War brilliantly anticipates what is in store for the new Russia and what the world should be doing.

The Heart of a Dog

Mikhail Bulgakov, Richard Pipes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Hilarious, sarcastic look at Soviet life 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Written in 1925, Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog is an absolutely hilarious and wonderfully sarcastic look at Soviet life, directly after the revolution.

The plot focuses on genius professor Preobrazhensky, who transplants the pituitary gland from a minor criminal into a stray dog named Sharik (little ball, in Russian). Gradually, the dog turns into a disgusting, crass little man and terrorizes the professor's household...

Sharik transforms into a dark satire of a Soviet official - Director of the agency responsible for clearing Moscow of 'vagrant quadrupeds' such as cats. He drinks, chases women, steals money, etc. All the while, Preobrazhensky battles the newly formed proletariate housing committee that has taken control of his luxury apartment building.

Absolutely unique for its time, the book strongly anti-communist and decidedly anti-proletariat... It wasn't until 1987 (60 years after it was completed), that Heart of a Dog was allowed to be published in the Soviet Union. It is also ridiculously over the top funny.

If you enjoy this novel, I would highly recommend trying to get a copy of the wonderful 1989 film, which was nominated for several international awards.

Editorial Review:

This hilarious, brilliantly inventive novel by the author of The Master and Margarita tells the story of a scroungy Moscow mongrel named Sharik. Thanks to the skills of a renowned Soviet scientist and the transplanted pituitary gland and testes of a petty criminal, Sharik is transformed into a lecherous , vulgar man who spouts Engels and inevitably finds his niche in the bureaucracy as the government official in charge of purging the city of cats.

The Thirteenth Tribe

Arthur Koestler

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Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Genetic Studies Prove Koestler Correct: True Hebrews/Palestinians Are The SAME race 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Recent genetic studies have shown Koestler was correct. Genetic studies are continuing to prove conclusively that the Ashkenazi (common European/Western Jew) have no genetic connection with the semitic peoples of the middle east. In fact, the middle eastern Hebrews and the Palestinians are the SAME genetic race -- which is NOT related to the Ashkenazi Jews, who never occupied the middle east. Genetic studies also are proving that Ashkenazi Jews (Khazars) are not a semitic race.

Journal axes gene research on Jews and Palestinians
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/nov/25/medicalscience.genetics
Excerpts:
"In common with earlier studies, the team found no data to support the
idea that Jewish people were genetically distinct from other people in
the region.(middle east) In doing so, the team's research challenges claims that Jews are a special, chosen people and that Judaism can only be
inherited."

"Jews and Palestinians in the Middle East share a very similar gene
pool and must be considered closely related and not genetically
separate, the authors state. Rivalry between the two races is
therefore based 'in cultural and religious, but not in genetic
differences', they conclude."

Editorial Review:

Traces the history of the ancient Khazar Empire, a major but almost forgotten power in Eastern Europe, which in the Dark ages became converted to Judaism. Khazaria was finally wiped out by the forces of Ghengis Khan, but evidence indicates that the Khazars, themselves migrated to Poland and formed the cradle of Western Jewry.

The Winter Queen

Boris Akunin

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Total reviews: 77 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Three million copies of Akunin's Erast Fandorin historical mystery series have been sold in Russia, where the author is a celebrity. This volume--the first of nine installments so far--should get the series off to a rousing start in the U.S. It's set in Czarist Russia and stars the naive but eager Fandorin as a young investigator with the Moscow police. Why would a university student shoot himself in the middle of the Alexander Gardens? Fandorin sets out to find the answer and soon lands in the middle of a far-reaching international conspiracy. Yakunin effectively juxtaposes the comical innocence of his hero against the decadence of nineteenth-century Moscow--aristocrats idling in gambling clubs while the winds of revolution freshen. In his debut, Fandorin comes across as an odd but appealing mix of Holmesian brilliance and Inspector Clousseauian bumbling. Occasionally, Akunin's style seems a bit affected, aping the manner of, say, Thackeray, commenting on the foibles of his characters, but at the same time, that nineteenth-century tone is part of the book's appeal. Anne Perry fans, in particular, will enjoy this series. Bill OttCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved. This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Blood Red Snow: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front

Gunter K Koschorrek

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Gunther Koschorrek wrote his illicit diary on any scraps of paper he could lay his hands on. As keeping a diary was strictly forbidden, he sewed the pages into the lining of his thick winter coat and deposited them with his mother on infrequent trips home on leave. The diary went missing and it was when he was reunited with his daughter in America some forty years later that it came to light and became "Blood Red Snow." The horror and confusion of fighting in the streets of Stalingrad are brought to life by his descriptions of the others in his unit: their differing manners and techniques for dealing with the squalor and death. This harrowing book takes the reader to the front line and paints a very human picture of what life was like under relentless Russian attacks in freezing conditions. As Koschorrek says in his introduction, the book stands as a memorial to the huge numbers on both sides who did not survive and is, over five decades later, the fulfillment of a responsibility he feels to honor the memory of those who perished.