Readers bored with straightforward narration will be seduced by Emil Draitser's style of writing. The stories included in this volume are compelling, sometimes even startling. Draitser resorts to unconventional language and imagery. The realistic mingles with the figurative and the mystical in his prose. That very mix renders Draitser's writing original and fascinating.His stories offer profound insights into the human condition, yet they are not humorless. The underpinnings of subtle, acerbic wit add special flavor to the texts. Some stories are probing analyses of Russian immigrants' process of acculturation in the US; most are intriguing existential tales. This review is not a perfunctory hat-tipping to the author. While inevitably something is lost in translation, Draitser's stories are truly original and informed by a shrewd and unique vision of the world.

I have been following Emil Draitser's career ever since he published his bilingual edition of Soviet underground jokes. This collection of 14 short stories is a more ambitious work that fully deserves a wider audience. The stories may vary in length, tone, content or point of view, but the author invariably tailors them to illuminate one or more aspects of the human condition. Whether he is masterfully depicting the poignant no-exit situation in Zugzwang, or the pathos of belonging and alienation in American Lady, or the precarious existence of the writer in the former Soviet Union in Faithful Masha, Mr. Draitser is always engaging. Highly recommended.

When you launch into "The Supervisor of the Sea," be prepared to leave behind your compass of familiar landmarks. In these haunting dreamlike tales, Emil Draitser has charted a new genre: Russian-American surrealism. This is a marriage of Ilf & Petrov's satire with Garcia Marquez' magical realism, filtered thru Andre Breton's sensibility making an honored guest of the unconscious. To boot, some stories take place in the Kafkaesque U.S.S.R., whose mystique cannot be shed by the mere expedient of emigration.
As a chess devotee, this reader zeroed in on the story "Zugzwang." This term in the royal game denotes a situation where one must move, but any move makes the position worse. Non-players may appreciate the feeling if absorbed in a Draitser tale and suddenly forced to evade a flood or an avalanche. Short of those, you will not want to put it down.
-Anthony Saidy

As the story unfolded I came to know and love Isakjan . This was a man who grew up in the most difficult of times, and he survived impossible circumstances while maintaining a great and dignified human nature.

The politics of this book are clear and honest. Isakjan makes political comments that appear to be as open and fair as any I have ever heard. The fact that the author wrote this book from years of conversations with his subject makes this biography even more compelling. The author appears to have done some extensive research to verify the accuracy of this story and the footnotes and extensive bibliography give me confidence in the factual information that is provided.

I thought that I knew about WWII, but this book provides vision for the political events that are being played out today. I think I will read it again, and then send a copy to a friend.

What an incredible book! In addition to a moving presentation of a fascinating life, the book opened my eyes to hidden momentous folds in the fabric of history. We have all read history as dictated by the winners and explained by the losers. Mr. Crane shows what those squeezed in the middle have to say.

I purchased this book for the Soviet and World War II history. It opened my eyes to some of the most complex, important and unknown aspects of that period. I loved reading "Survivor" because the subject, Jay Narzikul, led one of the more interesting lives of our era, replete with staggering world events, love, dirty and clean politics, deceit, adventure, heroes and fools, murder, freedom, and the pursuit of justice. The story unfolds like the best of novels.

Model research work (61 reference pages) on the ploys of Stalin's master spy Richard Sorge.
Sorge penetrated the highest power circle in Japan and had excellent connections with the Nazi-party through the German Embassy in Tokyo.
Prange proves that Sorge informed Stalin about the German attack against the Soviet-Union (operation Barbarossa) and that Stalin didn't believe him. That Sorge pinpointed the Pearl Harbor attack is for the author a myth.
Sorge got caught by the Japanese when his spy work became careless. He hoped that Moscow would save him through an exchange of prisoners, but his friends let him fall as a burnt spy. He was hanged. Only twenty years later Moscow admitted that he was an agent of the Comintern.
Excellent portrait of Sorge: a desperate soldier of WWI, who saw in communism the salvation of humanity, but also a hard drinker and a compulsive womanizer. The definitie book on Sorge. I agree with one of the rewiewers that this work is essential historical reading about WWII.

This is an excellent account of the Sorge spy ring that operated in Tokyo prior to and during WW II. Richard Sorge was an NKVD agent (predecessor to the KGB) who was sent to find out if Japan was going to attack the USSR.

His mission was a first rate success. He was able to tell Stalin that the Japanese militarists were going to attack to the south, against the East Indies, Philippines, and Australia. They would not attack Russia unless three things happened: the Germans captured Moscow, civil order broke down inside the USSR, and the Japanese Army had a significant force superiority along the Mongolian boder.

As a result of that information, Stalin pulled army divisions out of Siberia, and was able to use them for the counterattack outside Moscow in the Winter of 1941-2. That one piece of information could well have been the key to Hitler's defeat because if Moscow had fallen, the Germans probably would also have taken Stalingrad, and then captured the oil of the Middle East. Remember, the Luftwaffe didn't run out of airplanes; they ran out of fuel.

This book is an essential item for any historian of WW II.

Richard Sorge was a spy--pure and simple. I'm not denying that. He worked for Stalin. In the 1930s, Stalin sent him to Tokyo where he became a mole in the German Embassy in Tokyo. The Japanese were onto him from the beginning. It wasn't until he got sloppy that the Tokko, the Japanese secret police arrested him. He was executed in 1944. Near the end, Sorge's spy ring warned Stalin about Hitler's plan to invade the Soviet Union but Stalin refused to listen.

In an age when revolutionaries come from different family trees, how do you look at the legendary Leon Trotsky, and his theory of "permanent revolution," that colonial countries can move directly from capitalist governments to workers governments? Jack Barnes, Socialist Workers Party national secretary, examines this issue in an article based on a 1982 speech.

Their Trotsky And Our, by Jack Barnes, is a timely reprint twenty years after it was first published. Based on a talk before 1000 working class fighters from the United States and around the world, this talk was earth shattering for those who looked mainly to Leon Trotsky. It reclaimed the political perspective and the strategic centrality of the worker and farmer alliance in the fight to defeat capitalism. And it re-knit ties with Bolshevism and the Communist International in Lenin's time. This enhanced rapprochement with genuine communists of the day: the Cubans and other serious fighters world wide.

As James P. Cannon, a founder of the U.S Communist Party, a delegate to two congresses of the Communist International and later a founder and a central leader of the Socialist Workers Party and the Fourth International said : "It is not a new movement, a new doctrine, but the restoration, the revival of genuine Marxism as it was practiced in the Russian Revolution and in the early days of the Communist International." Thus "Their Trotsky and Ours" places Trotsky where he belongs in history as the twentieth century's greatest Marxist-Leninist, second only to Lenin.

This document is a summation of the lessons of history of revolution. In its way it is in line with the Communist Manifesto, with the fundamental documents of the Comintern, knitting together the history of world revolution, and of its Marxist vanguard in particular. This is not just about Trotsky and his contributions, butabout how the Cuban communists fit into the continuation of Leninism, of what lessons we can learn from the crushed revolutions in Grenada and Nicaragua and the revolution led by Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso.There is so much, how Lenin's understanding of the importance of reaching out to farmers is true today, how new currents of workers searching for communist answers will keep emerging as they did in Cuba. This book rejects the sectarianism that characterizes many who call themselves Trotskyists for the genuine Leninism that Trotsky was recruited to and fought to continue. It tells how Trotsky learned Leninism, and how Trotskyists have learned like Trotsky did, not to be Trotskyists, but to be communists. For many, this pamphlet will take them back to the founding documents of the Communists International. For others this will take you to the continuing revolutionary politics of Fidel and the other Cuban communists. If you are serious about changing the world, you need to read this, study this, and follow the links this important book takes you to revolutionists throughout history and around the world. Rather than looking back at history, this book willtake you forward to see where new revolutionists, new currents of revolutionists, new revolutions will come in the future.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While providing detailed information where necessary, it is understandable and useful to readers (like me) who have limited Civil War knowledge. In addition to the substantive factual information, the work provides a human reflection on some of the horrors of this War. For instance, the reference to the horrendous wounds and crude treatments were both educational and moving. I have never been to Gettysburg, however I hope to make a trip this year. I will certainly bring this book along with me as an aide.

I would certainly recommend this book to civil war buffs and those who may only have a passing interest in the subject. It is an easy read and very informative. It focuses on the characters involved in the battle which make it more interesting than a lot of civil war books. Also it can serve as a great guide book for those who are considering taking a trip to Gettysburg.

I read the book as well as my father in law who is also a Civil War Buff. We both found the reading smooth and easy to understand. The book was most informative, not like some of the other books on the subject. This book dug deeper into the personnel affected. I recommend this book to all avid civil War enthusiasts. I know the author personally and know that he put his body and soul into this book. Just as though he was there at the battle scene.

This book is so challenging to anyone wanting a deeper relationship with God. She challenges us to fully abandon ourselves to God, intellect and all, and love God for His sake alone, not what we will get from Him. This book is one of many things in my relationship with God that are helping to truly transform my view of God and self.

This book to me has offered a lot of freedom to blindly follow God and not have to follow Him with my intellect - through intellectual study, prayer requests, going to church, etc. Those things are excellent and I do them. But where my heart really goes is intuitively and blindly and recklessly abandoning myself to His guidance. Guyon validates those of us who end up feeling like we are going backwards when really God is taking us truly forward in leaps and bounds. God's ways are certainly not ours and Guyon does a fabulous job of helping us understand His heart.

For those of you who desire a oneness with Jesus, this is a must-read. There are "prerequisites". First is that you should be totally in love with Him. Next is desire a total amalgamation with Him. Finally, you must be ready to die to self. Jeanne says, this takes time, but that you should be ready to wait on Him to accomplish this task

I am a fan of fairy tales. And I love to share my passion for a good story with my son. My 5 year-old loved this book from the first reading.

It is not a short read for a 5 year-old, but it held his attention again and again. It is one of his favorites.

I bought this book because I love the illustrations of Ms. Hyman. We have read "Bearskin" by Howard Pyle, "Little Red Ridinghood", and "The Fortune Teller", all illustrated by Ms. Hyman. Her colors are vibrant and exciting. It seems that every book Ms. Hyman is involved with includes a great story and a great story teller.

"The Water of Life" has it all, love, tests and trials, devotion, greed, and betrayal. It gives us, mother and son, lots to talk about. I recommend this book heartily.

I am amazed that I never heard about this story until I was over 40 years old! This is an excellent book for teaching children the value of being loving and kind. I recently attended a talk on heroes at work and this book was mentioned. I am so glad that I purchased a copy because it will encourage me (and hopefully some friends that borrow it) that we can be heroes to those around us.

My daughter who is getting her Master's in Art asked for this book for Christmas. She adores Trina Schart Hyman illustrations. I really loved this book. The illustrations are really beautiful with many little interesting things to pick out in them. Children will find the scene from the enchanted castle especially fun. All the princes are sitting frozen in time at a banquet table. One is a frog, one a unicorn, another has butterfly wings, etc. Most of the pictures have a dark cast to them but the last one of the wedding is bright and cheery with little children wearing red costumes and throwing pink petals. The bridal couple are gorgeously dressed too. Moral of the story: Be kind and good and you will achieve true happiness.

This was a terrific story about the quest to find what is now Alaska. It gives insight into just how courageous these early exployers were. I can't comprehend of enduring those sort of hardships. Ford is also a good biologist and gives interesting commentary on the animal life. He also describes what may have been the first observation of a diving reflex in a marine mammal, the now extinct Northern sea cow. If you read this, it would be hard to complain about our current quality of life.

A true account of Vitus Bering's voyage from Russia to discover what is now Alaska. Anyone interested in the history of Alaska should start by reading this book, or someone looking for an actual true life adventure story that makes one appreciate the dangers encounted in the 1700's by these amazing explorers. This book is written from the journals of Georg Stellar, the naturalist on-board the boat that discovered Alaska. The first written account and identification of many species that Stellar discovered and writes about in his journals. One of which is extinct today and his writings are the only account of the massive Stellar Sea Cow. A fabulous account of these adventurors and their interaction with the beautiful, but deadly, Alaska coast and it's native people.

Excellent story of the discovery of Alaska by the famous explorer,Vitus Bering and naturalist, Georg Steller. Combines text from Steller's extensive notes and observations of the author.

This collection is outstanding. I am a doctoral candidate in history, writing my dissertation on the topic of "Soviet Women Who Fought at the Front," and without this book I would be lost. I am currently in Moscow and have made personal contact with some of the pilots and navigators covered in the book. All of my independent research has only confirmed to me what an excellent job K.J. Cottam did with this book.

Here is a superb collection of war-memoirs of Soviet combat-aviators from the original three female regiments organized by Marina Raskova. These were the Yak-1 equipped 586th Fighters, the Pe(Petlyakov)-2 equipped 587th Dive-bombers, and the famous 588th "night witches" who flew Po-2 biplane night-bombers. "Women in Air War" is the recently updated and revised version of K. J. Cottam's previously published "In The Sky Above the Front", translated from the Russian "V nebe frontovom". As in the previous editions, this book contains a forward by A. Mares'yev, a famous Soviet ACE and national Hero who lost both his legs in combat and recovered to fly and fight again. Mares'yev praises the courage and accomplishments of the airwomen who "fought the enemy every bit as well as the men did." These are memoirs of pilots, navigators, gunners, mechanics, armorers, political officers, and regimental and squadron commanders, all in their own words. Most of these memoirs were written very shortly after the War. A few were written during the War, including the diary of navigator Zhenya Rudneva, which ends abruptly as she perished during her 645th bombing mission. In addition there are some moving tributes to fallen comrades. Of particular interest are S. Gribanov's biography of Lidiya "Lilya" Litvyak and I. Pasportnikova's sketch of Katya Budanova. Both of these fighter-pilots had transferred to the elite (predominantly male) 73rd Stalingrad Guards Regiment commanded by N. Baranov, who was coincidentally the original commander of A. Mares'yev. Litvyak and Budanova became "Free Hunters" with the 73rd and achieved ACE status during the air battles over Stalingrad. Both were killed in action in late summer of 1943, and subsequently posthumously decorated with the highest military honor, Hero of the Soviet Union.

I find it ironic that there has recently been such an uproar over whether American women can or should participate in tactical aviation, when more than a half-century ago Soviet women did. And not out of Communist ideals or "political-correctness", but simply because their country needed them. Moreover, they acquited themselves well. The 586th held the distinction of never losing to Luftwaffe fire a bomber in the formations they escorted or a ground installation which they defended. The 588th was the first regiment of all the Night Bomber divisions to achieve Guards status, and by the end of the War each of its surviving veterans had made some 800 to 1,000 sorties. But searchlights, anti-aircraft fire, and enemy planes were not the only hurdles they had to overcome. They also faced gender-prejudice. Major V. Markov was at first indignant to be appointed Commander of the 587th Dive-bombers. This decorated officer "couldn't visualize how I could command women during war, flying [the Pe-2] bomber. I knew the aircraft, how difficult it was even for men to fly!" Markov's memoir, exerpted in this collection, relates his change of opinion as his female regiment distinguished itself and was awarded Guards status. Up until his death in 1994, Gen. (ret.) Markov remained a strong advocate of airwomen's capability in combat.

Brilliantly researched and written. Canadian scholar Kazimiera J. Cottam in her Women in Air War relays to us the tales of brave women who served on the Eastern Front of WWII. While written and researched by an expert in Women's Studies whose specialty is the Russian women of WWII- this book is an easy read for all. It gives us valuable insight into the nature and courage of women we have never heard of--but should have heard of. You will read biographical sketches of women dive-bombers, night bombers, and fighter pilots. And come to know and care about each of these women and find yourself wondering why none of this information was available to you.

All the elements of Dostoevsky's genius come through in this hodgepodge of literary forms. Kenneth Lantz is an extremely good translator. I don't know why he didn't translate Dostoevsky's other works.

This book and its companion volume present the contents of a journal written, edited, and published by Dostoevsky over a period of eight years. It is a fascinating collection. There are stories; there are literary discussions; there are commentaries on current events, especially court cases and international developments. There are jaw-drop-inducing vamps on the harmful effects of the Jews on decent Christian people. As time passes and Dostoevsky grows older and sicker, most other topics are abandoned in favor of eschatological Slavophile ruminations on the "Eastern Question" and the coming triumph of Russian Orthodoxy. All of this will be much more than the casual reader will want to wade through. Yet for the serious student or fan of Dostoevsky's novels, the diaries provide a unique and amazing window into the author's thinking. For the student of 19th century history, they are an unforgettable presentation of one side of the passionate arguments over the future of the Balkan countries. For the student of Russian history, they provide eyewitness commentary on the struggles that accompanied the introduction of Western-style legal reforms, such as trial by jury. They are unique and amazing volumes, enhanced by a superb editor's introduction and useful endnotes.

I bought this just because it was Dostoyevsky; I had no clue what it would be like. I thought that perhaps it was actually Dostoyevksy's personal diary. In fact, it is a journal Dostoyevsky wrote entirely himself and put out on a monthly basis. He muses on variety of subjects such as social-political issues of Russia at the time and criminal cases that have attracted his interest. In addition, he includes a few skeletons of short stories he is working on. Highly recommended for Dostoyevsky fanatics; newcomers would be better off reading Crime and Punishment.