This work, which a collbararive project from many renouned authors, is a technical work about the history, ecomonics, and culture of Russia during the peristrioka and the early 1990's. This book was used in my Russian Culture class, and I could not think of a better piece to illustrate the philoshy and psychology of the Russian population during this time. This is a must for anyone wishing to understand the political and cultural backdrop of present Russia.

Charlotte Salisbury regularly accompanied her writer husband Harrison ("The 900 Days -- The Siege of Leningrad") to the former USSR. An accomplished author in her own right, she had a number of Russian friends, and it was for them that she published her candid impressions. "Russian Diary" comes from the perspective of a post-War American tourist who dearly loved Russia and her people, but was critical of the bureaucracy and xenophobia of the Soviet system. In those days, visitors' accomodations and activities were closely regulated by the frustratingly oppressive Intourist. Their comings and goings were monitored, not so clandestinely, by the KGB. And Soviet citizens who associated with Westerners did so at risk to themselves. Mrs. Salizar's independently-minded friends occasionally found themselves summoned and questioned about their conversations and correspondence. But the author's interest was more in everyday life rather than the workings of the government. Her diary describes family relationships, housing, shopping, fashion, dining, transportation, education, and careers, with particular regard to the Soviet concept of Women's Equality. "Russian Diary" provides an interesting contrast to modern conditions for citizens and visitors alike. Russia is one of a few countries which still requires an entry visa, but after perfunctory registration with bored OVIR officials, foreign visitors may reside and travel where they wish. Russians are free to host and escort their American friends anywhere, and to exchange correspondence with them. This book is out-of-print, but worth acquiring from Amazon's affiliates.

An excellent book on Russian Political System and other systems as well. This is a must read book along with your other reads concerning Russian history. You will learn about the workings of this country politically, how it came to be an autocracy and how it stays that way.

I give this a must read rating. Remembering that it deals mostly with the political system of Russia.

Jimmy

I was interested in Russia and ignorant of economics. The author is willing to let people like me join in, offering basic but not patronising summaries of the main econonomic concepts. Full of entertaining anecdotes as well as rigorous statistics, this book is the best place I know to start understanding how the USSR turned into today's Russia. Maladyets!

This is a follow up to Ms. Schofield's previous book, _Inside the Soviet Military_, which is also highly recommended. The author now focuses solely on the elite Soviet Airborne (the Blue Berets) and the Spetsnaz forces. A brief history of the Red Army's paratroopers (the world's first) is given, as is a fairly detailed section of the 1968 Prague operation.

At the center of this book are gripping accounts of Soviet heroism in Afghanistan. These must be read by any serious student of recent military history and will probably hold special interest for any veteran. There are more than a few very moving stories of (sometimes suicidal) valor in these pages.

The last chapters deal with the tragedy of a proud and patriotic army struggling in vain against the ethnic separatism and political incompetence that led to the break up of the USSR. The section on the August 1991 "coup" and its aftermath is especially interesting. Immediate post-Soviet history is touched on, as well, but this book was written before the October '93 Parliament massacre or the '94 Chechen War.

While most of this book deals with the Airborne and Air Assault forces, there is also some great info on the Spetsnaz units, which have been so misunderstood and blown out of proportion in many popular Western accounts.

Among the many Soviet military personalities that appear thoughout this book is Alexander Lebed. An interesting portrait of the man before he left the army for politics, covering his service in Afghanistan through his command in post-Soviet Moldavia.

Also try _Inside the Blue Berets: A Combat History of the Soviet & Russian Airborne Forces_, by Steven Zaloga, for further reading.

This book on contemporary Russian literature is very valuable, and I am eagerly waiting for a continuation - Russian Literature 1995-2000.

It would have been good, though, if Prof. Shneidman would be so kind as to indicate where the stress in pronunciation of the Russian names would fall, which would be good at least for those who are not native speakers of Russian.

Anyhow, this book raises the reader's interest to keep in touch with the further develeopment of Russian contemporary literature by reading Russian literary journals.

In this dense, highly informative study Peter Duncan succinctly presents one of the most
important recurring features in Russian nationalist thought: the idea of a special mission of the
Russian people for Europe, Eurasia, or even the whole world. He starts with a short
comparative overview of the international varieties of messianism, and then proceeds to the
origins of Russian messianism in the late fourteenth century when "the monasteries developed
the ideological claim that Muscovy and her Grand Dukes were chosen to represent the climax
of Christian history" (p.11). A more elaborate version of this idea became later known under the
heading of Moscow as the "Third Rome".

In his survey, Duncan succeeds in comparing all the different permutations of, and in providing
a useful taxonomic scheme for, Russian messianism. For example, he distinguishes between
a state-oriented messianism inspired by the idea of Moscow's domination of other peoples (a
messianism he classifies as "nationalist"), and a people-oriented messianism linked with the
idea of the Russian people as being a model for other nations to follow (which he categorizes
as "universalist messianism"; p.3). His appraisal is especially helpful in differentiating between
19th-century Russian revolutionary and Leninist messianism, on the one side, and Stalinist
messianism, on the other.

Duncan's study is to be singled out as a major contribution to the field of comparative
nationalism studies, and a unique addition to the study of Russian intellectual and political
history. Moreover, it provides perhaps the most extensive bibliography on Russian nationalism
assembled so far. It will thus be of great value to students and advanced researchers alike.

I have been a collector of a cold steel for years but this book is the first one to be named a really professional guide.

This is a great book for breeders of Russian dogs and cats. The word, it's pronunciation, and definition are all there, including famous Russian artisans and royalty.

This anthology of stories, poems, and novellas from the NEP era is Dullsville. Sorry, Dullsgorod. Even Zamyatin's We, so gripping in Mirra Ginsburg's now classic translation, falls flat in this new "accurate" rendition (a cursory review of the original Russian suggests that this We is more word-for-word accurate, but it loses most of the unique flavor that is Zamyatin). The Civil War tales are poorly represented by Armored-Train 14-69 (rather than Fadeev's The Nineteen). While Pilnyak and Bulgakov are here, neither are at their best; Bulgakov's "The Fatal Eggs" belongs to an 1950s American sci-fi horror movie - why this one was chosen over The Heart of a Dog (or Pilnyak's moving "Mahogony" over the famous "Tale of the Unextinguished Moon") is a mystery.

There are some good selections here, like "Mahogony", and a couple short ones from Zoschenko. But the good ones are not incredible and will leave one thinking that literature in NEP Russia was decadent and dull.

It wasn't. Read Pilnyak's The Naked Year, Ginsburg's translation of We, Olesha's Envy, or even, believe it or not, Gladkov's Cement. Those are all works worth a discerning reader's time.

One final comment. Robert Maguire's introduction is a good one, but fails to capture the true dynamic between politics and literature that was occuring in the 1920s. The struggle in the Bolshevik party between "intellectuals" like Trotsky and Lunacharsky and pedestrians like Stalin was mirrored in literature. Trotsky himself wrote several articles about literature, championing a diversity of forms and claiming that the bourgeois heritage must not be discarded. He lost, of course, and so did his view on literature. Maguire unfortunately only brushes the surface of that struggle.

This is an excellent anthology of Russian Literature of the 1920's -- one of my favorite periods. Mayakovsky's play, "Bedbug;" Bulgakov's "Fatal Eggs," Zamyatin's "We;" are included as is poetry by Anna Akhmatova (my favorite "Lot's Wife"), Tsvetaeva, Bely, and many more. Russian literature during the 1920's was revolutionary, brilliant, multi-faceted, and as yet unbridled by the maxims of Socialist Realism. This collection is a very enjoyable read!