I only wish that I could write 1/4 as well.

This is one of the two or three very best histories of the Civil War ever written. It is on a par with "Battle Cry of Freedom." It brings events to life. It has the ring of absolute truth. Its characterizations of events and individuals are poetic and deeply moving. It teaches us tremendously important lessons of character and history.

In addition, it's a real page-turner - not a hard read at all. I've quoted more sections of it to my wife, my children (ages 11 and 13) and my co-workers than any other book I can think of.

I recommend this book to my brothers and sisters who are descendants of Confederate veterans, as well as those of us who are descended from the Union side. It is of a character and stature commensurate with General Lee.

Tim Oksman, City Attorney
Portsmouth, Virginia

I read this book twice; once before and again after reading the Grant Trilogy--Capt. Sam Grant, Grant Moves South, and Grant Takes Command followed by The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. The author drew liberally from primary sources, and what he writes you can believe. He writes very well. My first reading was an introduction without knowledge; the second pulled all the other readings together. I recommend them all, of course, but this seems to me a must because it so accurate, complete, and insightful. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Russian banking is 'inventing' a new Russian social process for individual and small group entrepreneurial pioneering and providing people with new pathways for economic growth. Every decisive step in the history of economic development ha been the result of deliberate decisions to open up space and enable people to pioneer. This deliberate incubation of the free enterprise of ordinary people has always worked to produce great results. This is not nostalgic, not romantic, not greed. It is the simple principle of applying "opportunity" to the great driving hunger of millions of people to transcend their inadequate past

A far better description of the actual situation in Russia than what is available in the U.S. or Russian Press, or other alternative sources. Opened my eyes to what I should be aware of.

I found this book provided a clear description of possibilities for collaboration and cooperation with Banks in America. Our methods and practices differ but Dr. van de Waal-Palms explains the common denominators.

This is absolutely the best book of being a witness for Christ I have ever heard before. I recommend every Christian alive read this powerful testimony. It will be a guaranteed encouragement for you.

Vanya's life is a plain, though powerful, example of the soul who seeks Jesus' will and no more on this earth. And is a great demonstration of what Jesus can do with the believer who loves Him more than himself or any thing in this world.

Through extreme persecution for his faith, Vanya saw opportunity to praise the God who gave him the strength to do so - to the very end. An excellent life, an excellent book.

Amazing.

The author comes from a family of Russian emigres who fled to the West as a result of the Russian Revolution. Before the Revolution, they were part of the minor nobility that supplied the Tsars with military officers in time of war and high- and mid-level government officials in time of peace. The book is mainly about how this family lived through the tumultuous period before, during and after the Revolution. The descriptions of Russian life during this period are vivid and engaging. The family portraits of people struggling to serve and save their country (and ultimately suffering the cruelest repudiation by it) are poignant. And the pages sparkle with objective analysis and insight. In spite of his family background, he does not grind axes or pine away for what was lost. And yet, although much was lost, his love for Russia and its people is clear. He sees clearly that the old order that was swept away in 1917 had its shortcomings, shortcomings that he warns may yet undermine contemporary Russia's latest experiments with constitutional democracy.

Serge Schmemann has written a terrific book about his ancestors on his Mother's side, the aristocratic Osorgin family. He traces the estate in Sergiyevskoye (now Koltsovo) that Mikhail Osorgin acquired in a card game in 1843 to the present day. It is a facinating tale interspersed with a history of the country from monarchy to communism to today. Schmemann, the son of an noted Russian Orthodox priest, is emminently qualified to write such a book. He spent many years in the Soviet Union as a reporter for the New York Times prior to winning a Pulitzer for his reportage on the fall of the Berlin Wall. The book is well researched and balanced with little tears shed over how his family lost everything to the successors of Lenin. This is his first book and it is written as what one would would expect from a newspaperman. The balalaikas do not strum and the book does lack the flavor that a book writer would bring. Never-the-less, it holds ones interest for all 333 pages. Unfortunately, Schmemann is currently an editor at the Times, so one misses his excellent columns. We look forward to his next book.

The first half of this book is both leisurely and entertaining, giving us a rich and at the same time penetrating look at the life of a wealthy family, its estate, and the villagers who were their neighbors. The second half, concentrating as it does on post-Bolshavik experiences, both in the rural village area and elsewhere, including a gulag on the White Sea, cannot be more riveting. It's hard to remember that all this really happened; it is no fiction, or creative dramatization. At the same time, there is the sweep and intellectual vision that one does associate with the great Russian novelists of the early part of this century and before. I have sent this extraordinary book to friends of mine, and I am its ardent publicity agent!

This collection of observations, opinions and statistics of Mr. Ulyanov certainly isn't what I expected. Typically such texts are filled to the brim with rhetorical catch-phrases, belligerent ranting towards the bourgeoisie and the wealthy classes, and little else. Here, the cases for Lenin's ideas are very strong, and he later used this to an advantage. Not to mention the way he strung his ideas together; Lenin was perhaps the most intellectual and charismatic of all the Soviet leaders, which is why his image is idealized so often in media. You see him on T-shirt and posters, something he never thought he'd ever end up as; then again he probably never assumed that his body would be stuffed and put on display for 80 years..

This is a fine introduction to the thinking of one of the few people in the world who really influenced the tide of history. Along with Leon Trotsky and the Bolshevik Party, Lenin helped establish the first state that was ruled by and for the working class. What went wrong with the revolution is best dealt with by reading Trotsky.

This book really captures the essence of Lenin's thoughts and philosophy. His most famous piece : "What Is To Be Done?" captures the turmoil that was swirling around socialism during that time and esp in Russia. His theory on the development of the class conscious and importance of professional revolutionaries were amazing and showed the vision that this genius held. It's really sad that someone such as Stalin had to destroy something as pure and just as the work of Lenin, Marx, and true socialism!!

Simply stated, I was profoundly affected by this book and will never look at the world the same way again.

Everyone should read it, maybe the Earth would become a better place.

If I made a list of books everyone should read, this one would right now be number one. Everything that has happened in the last 10,11 years since the breakup of the Soviet Union, is in here- East Germany, Liberia, Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia- each story told in the context of the lives of one or a few people, which makes these stories so vivid and real. You'll remember the newspaper headlines, and the stories, but in this book it's like you are experiencing it all for the first time, and personally. Fritz is a terrific writer, I promise you won't be bored. Finally it has very special meaning for Americans. Fritz keeps referring to us a s "the world's only superpower", a concept that hasn't really sunk in for most of us, or most of our "leaders" either. So we really need to do a lot of heavy thinking about what we do, how we act, in fulfilling this historicaly unique role. Buy it!

Fritz' repertorial skill and novelistic approach make a less-than-palatable subject read like a gripping detective novel.

His eye for detail and empathy with the people - and the voices - of those tortured souls literally "Lost On Earth" make this book an invaluable document for our fragmented times.

I first read this magnificent tome on Russian history and culture in 1997. As it was part of a history class in college, the first read was a bit of a drag...page after page of description concerning the minutia of Russian life: clothes, churches, meals, religious & superstitious rituals, architecture, commerce, political strife, and so on. Really, with the whirl of the Social Circus of that college year, trudging through all this obscure information brought me no end of grief and silent lamentation! To think of all that time I could have been out with friends looking to score whatever cheap release was on hand or burning inside...spent instead sludging through *detailed history*!

Cut to four years later...

I'm going to Russia. In two weeks. Like so many other unplanned affairs that seem to formulate out of nowhere and take one by the lapels, shoving one screaming into the storm of life, this reviewer took it in stride and decided to find some quick-but-informative text on the destination in mind--especially one with such contradictory reports as Mother Russia. Thus, I dug this out of my library and began anew, stifling a faint unpleasant feeling no doubt inspired by those long sleepless college nights. There had to be some merit here, yes?

Oh yes.

'Land of the Firebird' is a WONDERFUL and ENGAGING in-depth look of Russian history from 987-1917, spanning the ascension of Vlad and the Orthodox Church to right before the Revolution. With colorful prose Suzanne Massie details the variety of Russian existence--tsars and serfs and merchant-princes and babushkas--no stone is left uncovered as she cross-references nearly a thousands years, writing with equal consideration of art, poetry, country-life, court-life, politics and its myriad games, myths and legends, influence "outside the sphere." It would be impossible to truly set down the full range of Russia experience for this time in the 450 pages allotted the reader, but the author does an admirable job in covering the major shakers and movers and events while sparing a considerable amount of print for the minor peoples and patterns that set the foundation of this ancient, troubled country. It certainly put an interesting light on what I saw come the spring of '01.

Indispensable for the casual student of Russia.

I bought this book in the early 80's and absolutely loved it. I recommended it to friends who were going to spend a year in Russia. They took it with them and shared it with their Russian friends, who copied whole chapters by hand -- all the while bemoaning the loss of so much of their rich, pre-revolutionary culture.

Having read many books on Russian history, architecture, notable personalties and points of interest, I found this book to be invaluable. It is a must have if you're interested in Russian history, planning to travel there, or simply want to try to understand how a Russian thinks. Also has wonderful illustrations and photographs.

This book is not only a very pleasant read about the Russian conquest of the Caucasus, and thus good background for understanding the current problems there. It's also a source from which Frank Herbert drew heavily when writing his science fiction novel *Dune*. Such terms as chakobsa, kanly and kindjal are not unique to Blanch's book, but they certainly resonate with Herbert's fans.
Highly recommended and very readable.

The reviews I've read so far fail to emphasize that this book, while it certainly covers much of the history of the Caucuses in the latter half of the 19th century, is in no small part a biography of Imam Shamyl, "The Lion of Dhagestan", and his role as the leader of what was referred to as "The Mureed Wars". Shamyl was a legendary, charismatic leader who, through the power of his Islamic faith, and with the added dimension of being son-in-law of one of the great Shaykhs of the Naqshbandi Sufi order (Jamaluddin Ghumuqi), united the various tribes and peoples of this region to fight off the great Russian Bear for nearly 25 years. It is an epic tale of heroism and tragedy on a personal and cultural level, and will grip the reader as they follow the exploits and the battles that are still to this day legendary in the Caucuses.

The reviews I've read so far fail to emphasize that this book, while it certainly covers much of the history of the Caucuses in the latter half of the 19th century, is in no small part a biography of Imam Shamyl, "The Lion of Dhagestan", and his role as the leader of what was referred to as "The Mureed Wars". Shamyl was a legendary, charismatic leader who, through the power of his Islamic faith, and with the added dimension of being son-in-law of one of the great Shaykhs of the Naqshbandi Sufi order (Jamaluddin Ghumuqi), united the various tribes and peoples of this region to fight off the great Russian Bear for nearly 25 years. It is an epic tale of heroism and tragedy on a personal and cultural level, and will grip the reader as they follow the exploits and the battles that are still to this day legendary in the Caucuses.

Gogol defies classification. For sheer exuberant imagination, he is unmatched. We read these stories with a mixture of amusement and alarm - even if we have read them before and know the outcome. My favorite is "The Nose", but others (including some of the Ukrainian Tales spurned by the cognoscenti) follow close behind.

Gogol makes savage fun of the stilted bureaucracy, the obsession with rank, titles and medals, the pretensions of society in general. He is familiar with the irrational and fantastic that creeps into the fissures of our existence. The misery of the downtrodden clerk is real; but, strangely, the tales do not have the depressing effect usually associated with social criticism. As Nabokov shows us in his analysis of "The Overcoat", Gogol's prose opens trapdoors under our feet with absurd suddenness, and we tumble in. It is a dizzying, unnerving, and at the same time exhilarating experience. (I think, incidentally, that Nabokov took a slice from "Nevsky Prospect" when he wrote "That in Aleppo once...". But then - who hasn't taken a slice out of Gogol?)

The selection and translation of the tales in this edition is, in my opinion, excellent and thoroughly enjoyable.

of course wonderful stories, but the translations are excellent. If you're going to read Gogol in English, use Pevear as your guide.

This is a comprehensive and well organized collection of stories that does justice to Gogol as a short story writer. Although a few stories have been omitted, most of Gogol's major short stories are here.
There is 'How Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich', which is one of the most hilarious stories I've ever read. 'Diary of a Madman' and 'Ivan Fiodorovich Shponka and His Aunt' are sure to delight the fans of 'The Overcoat'. Overall, these are the unique gems of comedy, horror, satire, fastasy and more. This compact collection would be the perfect introduction to those who want to get a solid feel for the writings of this inimitable and versatile artist, but may not be ready to commit themselves fully just yet.

Paul Carrell's HITLER MOVES EAST is a great work on the first half of the Russian Campaign. Not surprisingly, it is a slower to immerse yourself into the story compared to SCORCHED EARTH by virtue of Carrell explaining the prepratory decision making processes. Carrell successfully lays out tactical and operational histories with a supplment of occassional personal accounts, then interconnects them to provide a solid history. HME is an exciting work that encompasses the first half of the largest and bloodiest campaign in the history of warfare. ONE WARNING: THIS BOOK IS BIASED. EX: Interesting to this work is Carrell's rationalization of Hitler's motivation to invade the Soviet Union!

This is simply a great battlefield narrative of the German-Russian conflict of WW2. Virtually all place names mentioned in the book are referenced in the excellent battlefield maps. This is unlike any other book I've read on the Eastern Front. An intimate knowledge of European Russian geography is not required. Battlefield troops movements are well described in the narrative and through the maps. It is also written in a lively and dramatic fashion and touches on individual exploits as well as painting the vast canvas of the battles of armies. It is the most readable of the narratives on the subject I've read to see how the war was won/lost on the battlefield.
Be aware this is not a full account of the War. It could be said that this is a military account from the German Wermacht's point of view. It was written during the "Cold War" and Soviet Sources by many were considered suspect. No mention is made of the NAZI atrocities in European Russian during the German occupation or barbaric treatment of the Russian prisoner either. Political or diplomatic aspects of the war are not covered.
This doesn't detract from the fact that for those that love a great battlefield account and want to know how the war was fought over this vast mostly overlooked (in English Language) front, this is a great read.

This as an excellent book for anyone interested in learning about the battles on the Eastern Front. Paul Carrell not only gives the big picture view of the war in the East but also includes many detailed first hand accounts of the fighting. To bad this book is no longer in print. By far the best work I have read on Hitlers war against the Soviet Union. I highly recommend it!