History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Russia & Belarus (Lonely Planet Travel Guides)

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Belarus, huh?
Don't be paranoid!
Big Russia
A Guide for the 17,000,000 square kilometers of Russia

Russia & Belarus (Lonely Planet Travel Guides)
Simon Richmond , Mark Elliott , Patrick Horton , and Steve Kokker
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1741042917

Book Description

Cosmopolitan cities, bubbling volcanoes, spectacular mountains and breathtaking art - Russia is as diverse as it is dramatic, while Belarus satisfies those in search of a Soviet experience. Untangle the conspiracy theories and immerse yourself in the rich heritage - from Minsk to Moscow, Siberia to Kamchatka, make sure you're carrying this best-selling guide to the world's most enigmatic destination.

CULTURAL CONTEXT - in-depth background information brings you up to date on Belarusian politics and Tuvan throat-singing

DISCERNING REVIEWS - hand-picked listings from our team of expert authors reveal Moscow's swankiest clubs and Siberia's finest adventure tours

140+ MAPS - detailed, grid-referenced maps throughout

COMPREHENSIVE LANGUAGE CHAPTER - includes Cyrillic script

Customer Reviews:

Belarus, huh?.......2006-10-15

What to say about Belarus? Well, we spent the day the White Russkis commemmorate the end of WWII there, so I've seen it in all of its "grandeur". Not much to recommend it, go and see Belarus if you missed out on the post WWII East European dictatorships, because Belarus is the last of its kind. A genuine personality cult around the president runs politics, and you can get a feel for what it was like in 1970's E. Europe. Guess what- you will not like it. Take some pics of Minsk & move on to Moscow. And if you can find a decent hotel in Minsk, you've done better than my wife and I did.

Don't be paranoid!.......2006-10-04

There is a wealth of information in this book but some of the information is way off. For example the restaurant Lechaim is said to be "excellent" and the cooking is "served in hearty portions". I got a small portion of fish, two soups and salad for an outrageous price of $50. LP warns that prices change but the book is only a few months old. Also the authors are overly sensitive about fitting in by suggesting that you use a plastic bag like the locals instead of a backpack to carry your things. First of all what is wrong with looking like a foreigner? Are they suggesting that Russians don't like foreigners? Anyway many locals use back packs. I also didn't get stopped by police outside the Moscow railway station. The book sanctions some level of paranoia possibly to protect themselves. Maps are accurate and so are many of the museum schedules. I would suggest trying some of the restaurants not mentioned in the book. You can find some good food that way.

Big Russia.......2005-08-19

The only problem with this book is that if you're planning to travel just to an area of Russia, you won't need as much information of others. Russia is huge so the place you're travelling to, probably just will have a couple of paragraphs....

A Guide for the 17,000,000 square kilometers of Russia.......2004-01-06

So you have already seen the present (Moscow) and former (St. Petersburg) capital, and now you would like to see the "real Russia", or you have an airplane conference to attend in Kazan, or you have adopted a child from Murmansk, or you are meeting a prospective bride from Magadan (don't laugh--whenever I answer questions from people who are traveling to regions outside of Moscow/St. Petersburg, 80% are going for adoption or marriage!). There are almost no current guidebooks to regions such as Perm, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Volgograd, Crimea, Minsk, and the Far East. The 'Lonely Planet Russia and Ukraine' has the largest area coverage of any guide currently published in English.

It is also ideal for those taking a river cruise between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The coverage of the famed Trans-Siberian route is ok, although I think the 'Trans-Siberian Handbook' and 'Siberian Bam Guide : Rail, Rivers & Road' do a better job for those particular regions.

The Moscow/St. Petersburg sections are ok as well, although anyone spending more than a few days in each of those cities should look into guides that cover only those cities.

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

Average customer rating:

Profound and important
Frst hand accounts
This Book Will Break Your Heart
Voices from Chernobyl.
And You Think Hurricane Katrina Was A Disaster??

Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
Svetlana Alexievich
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312425848
Release Date: 2006-04-18

Book Description

Voices from Chernobyl is the first book to present personal accounts of what happened on April 26, 1986, when the worst nuclear reactor accident in history contaminated as much as three quarters of Europe. Svetlana Alexievich a journalist who now suffers from an immune deficiency developed while researching this bookinterviewed hundreds of people affected by the meltdown. Their narratives form a crucial document revealing how the government masked the event with deception and denial. Harrowing and unforgettable, Voices from Chernobyl bears witness to a tragedy and its aftermath in a book that is as unforgettable as it is essential.

Customer Reviews:

Profound and important.......2007-09-10

This book is a punch in the gut. There's no nicer way to say it. It's downright devastating. It's something that every single person should read. Even if you only know Chernobyl vaguely, two things are made painfully apparent by this book: whatever you've read about Chernobyl in the past has probably grossly underestimated the magnitude of the disaster; and the death and injury toll from the accident hasn't stopped yet. Not by a long shot.

In her quest to expose the human cost of Chernobyl, journalist Svetlana Alexievich presents three years' worth of interviews with a wide cross-section of individuals. Unlike most books about Chernobyl, the focus is on the people of Belarus, who were not evacuated as quickly as their southern neighbors in Ukraine. The breadth of the author's research is astounding. The reader meets the widow of one of the first responders to the Chernobyl accident, a young firefighter who arrived at the nuclear plant clad only in his street clothes and ended up suffering an agonizing death in a Moscow radiation ward only 14 days later. There are children who were evacuated from surrounding cities and parents of children who have died from radiation-related illnesses. There's a respected scientist who, learning of the Chernobyl disaster, made frantic calls to all the Soviet brass in Minsk he could think of, only to be ignored. There are elderly men and women who have returned to the Exclusion Zone to live in solitude, eating radioactive crops. There are liquidators who toiled for months shoring up the reactor's ruins, only to receive a medal, a certificate and a serious or terminal illness as thanks. There's even an ex-Soviet official who tries to justify the cover-ups surrounding the Chernobyl crisis.

No angle is ignored, and no detail, no matter how horrifying, is politely edited out. Alexievich allows her subjects to tell their stories honestly and frankly. Voices from Chernobyl presents a profound moment of truth for a situation that, for 20 years, has been seeped in denial and secrecy. Very highly recommended.

Frst hand accounts.......2007-08-28

Touching first hand accounts of the people effected by the fallout of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Accounts of how land and the popluation were forever devasted and chagned, how the Soviet government secretly handled the containment and clean up and blinded many who dutifully responded by withholding and not inforing of the danger. The first story of the wife of a fireman who was one of the first on scene and her pain as she watched him die was the most gripping account to me. First hand accounts tell of poeple who have remained in Chernobyl, the way the land once looked and now looks and the soldiers who were sent to guard and contain the site. Overall I did find the book touching and intereting but towards the end, I did find the stories somewhat redundant of the theme.

This Book Will Break Your Heart.......2007-07-27

This book brought tears to my eyes reading the stories that these people have gone through. One would have to be made of stone not to cry over all that these wonderful people have had to go through.

Stories of love, death, sickness,pain, despair, and the reality of what could happen here in the States if we ever had a nuclear accident like they did. We must not grow lax or lazy and think it could not happen here, because the truth of the matter is that it could happen here. This book has convinced me more than ever, that nuclear power is not something that I want us to pursue as an souce of energy in this country.

I believe that it is important that I pass this book on so that more people can read this book. I want as many people to read this book, so that they know the facts of what would happen if we had a nuclear accident here in the States.

Voices from Chernobyl........2007-04-02

This was not the book I was looking for but it was the book I read. Far from an historical recreation of the disaster, Voices from Chernobyl is a personal confessional, a lyric documentation of intense human emotions. Svetlana Alexiech presents each story without comment or judgement. It is a stream of conscoiusness, profoundly moving in the face of this 1986 nuclear disaster, the gross incompetence of the Soviet Government and failure to contain the radioactive contamination. The stories are of those who stayed, those who came to help, those who died and those who survived. Haunting, moving, emotional, revealing, shocking, sad and inspirational. This book will stay with you long after the last page is turned.

And You Think Hurricane Katrina Was A Disaster??.......2007-02-13

This book is a collection of stories, commentaries, and monologues from the people who lived and continue to live through the Chernobyl crisis. Their voices are simple and honest but come from the heart and clearly depict their hardship and suffering. Their voices also give portrayal to their culture which combines old world peasantry and Soviet collectivism that is clashing with an unexplainable, unseeable, and futuristic horror. It is this clash that renders the whole catastrophe so heartbreaking. That a simple, family oriented, agrarian society who have already lived through so much suffering be victim to such an accident is quite heartbreaking. And to make matters worse, the lack of education, support, protection, and management by the Soviet government is apalling. The failures of a socialistic bureacracy are quite apparent. After reading this book, I can clearly argue why nuclear technology should not be placed in the hands of governments such as Iran or North Korea who already have a record of irresponsibility. Allowing these countries to develop nuclear energy is like giving a three year old a loaded gun to play with. Well written and well deserving of the 2005 National Book Critics Circle Award for non-fiction.

The Russian Adoption Handbook: How to Adopt from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova

Average customer rating:

Everything you Need to Know
Awesome Guide
Great general resource but already somewhat out-of-date
Extremely informative, but poorly written
Make this book your first if adopting from Eastern Europe

The Russian Adoption Handbook: How to Adopt from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova
John H. Maclean
Manufacturer: iUniverse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Accessories:

philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 0595301150

Book Description

Adopting a child can be one of life's most rewarding experiences. Unfortunately, complex policies, legal risks, and fewer available children make adopting domestically difficult. International adoption offers a solution to parents yearning for a child of their own.

American parents are now adopting over 5000 children a year from Russia and Eastern Europe. John Maclean's The Russian Adoption Handbook is a comprehensive guide to adopting a child from overseas.

From the pitfalls to the practical, the rewards to the risks, The Russian Adoption Handbook leads parents through the maze of:

How the international adoption process works.
How to start the process.
What you need to know before traveling to Russia and Eastern Europe.
Making the most out of your trip--the inside scoop on customs, hotels, and food.
The children's homes, the courts, and the questions that need to be asked.
Medical issues, special adoption doctors, and travel requirements.
Post adoption procedures, and much, much more.

Practical, accurate, and written with a father's sense of humor, The Russian Adoption Handbook is the most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to adoption yet.

Customer Reviews:

Everything you Need to Know.......2007-06-07

This is the everything you need to know about Russian adoption in one book guide. It is a little dated right now with re-accreditation issues starting in 2005, but it is still a very relevant and important guide to adopting from Russia. I suggest purchasing this book before you choose an agency as it gives lists of very important questions to ask a potential agency. This book breaks down the Russian adoption process and walks PAPs through the paperwork they will be filing. There are chapters on everything from what to pack to how to find a good pediatrician. We pulled chapters about our region and questions to ask doctors trip one out of the book and traveled with them. This is one book about adopting from Russia all PAPs need to read.
Written by Christina Stinsa

Awesome Guide.......2006-12-15

I just adopted my son from Russia and this book made everything so much easier! It should be a must have for all prospective adoptive families!!!

Great general resource but already somewhat out-of-date.......2006-07-24

There is a lot of general information contained in one easy to navigate location. I do recommend it highly, especially for one who is just beginning the adoption process. The only problem is that things are changing so fast, that even though the book was recently updated, it is already somewhat out of date.

Extremely informative, but poorly written.......2006-07-15

I recommend this book as it offers more information specific to Russian adoption than you will find in any other book. The author adopted two children from Russia himself, and he is an attorney, so he is informed about the process. He researched thoroughly for this book.

In spite of its depth of information, however, this is the most poorly edited book I have EVER seen. And this guy's a lawyer? If he were going to publish, he should have taken a little more care with the editing. Also, don't get your 'basic Russian' lesson from this book. I studied abroad at a university in Russia for one semester, and I have studied the language quite extensively. If you use some of his language advice, you're sure to get a laugh from some Russians. For example, on page 165, he says that 'Hi!' is 'Draws-vee.' It is actually, 'STRAST-ee' with the emphasis on the first syllable. If you say 'Draws-vee' with your American accent, you are sure to get some strange looks. On page 166, he says that bread is 'kleb.' It's actually pronounced, 'khleb' (with a khah sound that catches in your throat). 'Kleb' just sounds ridiculous.

The terrible editing and language mistakes make me wonder if I can trust the rest of the information! Still, I think it's worth buying because it is more extensive than any other source on Russian adoption that I could find. Don't buy this book, though, unless you've already decided to adopt from Russia.

Make this book your first if adopting from Eastern Europe.......2006-04-04

I cannot begin to say how helpful this book has been in our adoption process. I am sure that we are several months ahead of where we would have been had we not had this book as a resource. All of the information that you want to ask your adoption agency but forget to ask, plus questions you don't even know to ask are answered in this book. Don't let the size of the book overwhelm you, Maclean has such a fun writing style that the book is easy to pour over. I highly recommend this book very early in the process just to help with the initally paperwork, but if it isn't bought that early it still has loads of information for any stage of the process. Maclean also references many other books and websites for specific concerns through-out the book. This book is worth every penny!

The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Saved 1,200 Jews and Built a Village in the Forest

Average customer rating:

An inspiring story
the ends don't justify the means
Three brave brothers...
mm soo good!
War and Beyond!

The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Saved 1,200 Jews and Built a Village in the Forest
Peter Duffy
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0066210747
Release Date: 2003-07-01

Book Description

It is one of the most remarkable dramas of World War II -- untold until now.

In 1941, three young men -- brothers, sons of a miller -- witnessed their parents and two other siblings being led away to their eventual murders. It was a grim scene that would, of course, be repeated endlessly throughout the war. What makes this particular story of interest is how the survivors responded. Instead of running or capitulating or giving in to despair, these brothers -- Tuvia, Zus, and Asael Bielski -- did something else entirely. They fought back, waging a guerrilla war of wits and cunning against both the Nazis and the pro-Nazi sympathizers. Along the way they saved well over a thousand Jewish lives.

Using their intimate knowledge of the dense forests surrounding the Belorussian towns of Novogrudek and Lida, the Bielskis evaded the Nazis and established a hidden base camp, then set about convincing other Jews to join their ranks. When the Nazis began systematically eliminating the local Jewish populations -- more than ten thousand were killed in the first year of the Nazi occupation alone -- the Bielskis intensified their efforts, often sending fighting men into the ghettos to escort Jews to safety. As more and more Jews arrived each day, a robust community began to emerge, a "Jerusalem in the woods." They slept in camouflaged dugouts built into the ground. Lovers met, were married, and conceived children. The community boasted a synagogue, a bathhouse, a theater, and cobblers so skilled that Russian officers would wait in line to have their boots reshod.

But as its notoriety grew, so too did the Nazi efforts to capture the rugged brothers; and on several occasions they came so near to succeeding that the Bielskis had to abandon the camp and lead their massive entourage to newer, safer locations. And while some argued in favor of a smaller, more mobile unit, focused strictly on waging battle against the Germans, Tuvia Bielski was firm in his commitment to all Jews. "I'd rather save one old Jewish woman," he said, "than kill ten Nazis."

In July 1944, after two and a half years in the woods, the Bielskis learned that the Germans, overrun by the Red Army, were retreating back toward Berlin. More than one thousand Bielski Jews emerged -- alive -- on that final, triumphant exit from the woods.

The Bielski Brothers is a dramatic and heartfelt retelling of a story of the truest heroism, a historic testament to courage in the face of unspeakable adversity.

Customer Reviews:

An inspiring story.......2007-03-18

The story of Tuvia, Asael, and Zus Bielski and the village they built in the woods of Belarus, while waging a continual war against the Nazi occupiers and their anti-Semitic local collaborators, is an inspiring story proving that, contrary to what some people insist upon, there were those out there who did NOT let themselves be led like sheep to the slaughter. These men had been fighters since they were boys, unwilling to take guff or indignities from anyone, unafraid to defend themselves, even physically. They were not the stereotypical pale-faced yeshiva boys of Eastern Europe who ran and cowered from confrontation with anti-Semites.

The Bielski brothers were three of the dozen children (eleven surviving past childhood) born to David Bielski and Beyle Mendelavich of Stankevich, Belarus, in an area that, through all of the wars and territorial treaties in those years, often changed hands between the Russians, the Poles, the Belarussians themselves, the Soviets, and finally the Germans. Drawing on their background of defending themselves and not running away from people trying to harm them, the brothers took an active role in partisan activity after the Nazi occupation. Though the three of them had managed to find residence away from the Lida and Novogrudek areas where their parents and most of their siblings were, they could see that what was happening was no small stuff, wasn't liable to stop anytime soon, and cried out to be avenged fully. Rescuing as many of their own people as possible became even more imperative after the murder of their parents, two of their brothers, and Asael's wife and baby daughter. Against all odds, they gave shelter and protection to roughly 1,200 people, began a fully-functioning village in the forest, moved their people to safer locations several times (under active Nazi pursuit and flying bullets no less), made connections with the Soviet partisans, and got many of their residents out of the Lida and Novogrudek ghettoes. They were so successful at getting their people out of the two closest ghettoes, in fact, that 240 of 250 people left in the Novogrudek ghetto on the eve of a planned deportation escaped through a tunnel in a mass escape that was amazingly successful (150 survived and weren't killed in the Nazi gunfire that followed, and the few remaining hidden in the ghetto escaped several days later). Along the way, they had to contend with enemies on four fronts--the Nazis, pro-Nazi collaborators, Soviet partisans who weren't always on the same page as they when it came to why they were fighting the war, and internal dissention among their own people. So much of the Jewish community in the Nazi-occupied Soviet Union had been completely decimated (particularly since most of them had been murdered by Einsatzgruppen instead of being killed in ghettoes or camps where they at least had a small chance of survival), so it was an astonishing thing to see these 1,200 survivors come walking out of the woods in July of 1944 after the area was liberated by the Red Army. (Although it was never really said just how many of the Bielski siblings survived, apart from Tuvia, Asael, Zus, their baby brother Aron who worked as a scout in the woods, their sister Taibe, and an older brother in America; are we to assume they were killed or that some of them were also in the woods? We know two of their brothers were killed, but we're never told anything about the fates of most of their other siblings.)

There are those who claim that all books about the Shoah are just the same story over and over again, or are too depressing, but how many of those books are written about Jewish partisans who actively fought back and in the process also saved over a thousand of their own people, complete with creating their own village where life went on in (relatively speaking) normal circumstances? This is an inspiring story about three heroic brothers, not just some tale of sadness, woe, despair, and having to wait to be rescued by an outside force. I've also never read a book about the Shoah in Belarus; it's not too common to run across books with the Nazi-occupied USSR as the setting, seeing as how most of the people living there were murdered by the Einsatzgruppen early on, no chance of surviving the way someone in, say, Holland, France, or Hungary might have. This was hands-down one of the largest groups of Jews saved by anyone during the Shoah. It's about time these unsung heroes of the Shoah got more recognition.

the ends don't justify the means.......2005-11-23

they killed innocent jews even after they were liberated. another sad story of blind faith, absolute power corrupting absolutely and "spin".

a book should be written about the family who suffered after the husband and father was shot over a pair of boots.

how was it that they were allowed into america after being labeled war crimminals. did someone look under the table?

Three brave brothers..........2005-05-11

These three brothers saved over 1200 Jews in Belorussia by making a home for them in the forest. They were tough as nails, and fought to save their people while fighting the enemy.

It's a dramatic story, and once read, you'll never forget the three brothers--Zus, Tuvia and Asael--nor their comrades-in-arms, nor the people they saved. It's a real testament to the survival of the human spirit.

mm soo good! .......2005-02-05

Great book! I can't wait for the movie in 2006! :) I also recommend Lala's Story and Survival in Auschwitz!

War and Beyond!.......2004-12-09

The brothers witnesses such unbearable cruelty at the hands of the Germans and many local gentiles that they saw no choice but to fight if they were going to survive. Their fight included their protection of hundreds and hundreds of Jews. Through their charisma, organizing skills, and aggressiveness, they successfully accomplished their task. Along the way, however, it appears that they developed a certain hubris, a feeling of such self-importance that they became what can only be called tyrannical. Although there is a question of whether they or some of their people were unduly robbing the surrounding peasants and appeared less than completely with their Soviet sponsors, there is no question that they took what ever they wanted for themselves, including accommodations and women. Perhaps as with Moses, Tuvia committed such a cruel act upon the dissolution of the camp that he paid for it by becoming a failure in later life, never able to re-capture his former authority and self-satisfaction.

The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus

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The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus
Serhii Plokhy
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521864038

Book Description

The latest developments in the countries of eastern Europe, including the rise of authoritarian tendencies in Russia and Belarus, as well as the victory of the democratic ‘Orange Revolution’ in Ukraine, pose important questions about the origins of the East Slavic nations and the essential similarities or differences between their cultures. This book traces the origins of the modern Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian nations by focusing on premodern forms of group identity among the Eastern Slavs. It also challenges attempts to ‘nationalize’ the Rus' past on behalf of existing national projects, laying the groundwork for a new understanding of the premodern history of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The book covers the period from the Christianization of Kyivan Rus' in the tenth century to the reign of Peter I and his eighteenth-century successors, by which time the idea of nationalism had begun to influence the thinking of East Slavic elites.

Russia, Belarus & Ukraine (Insight Guides)

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Insight Guide: Russia.
A Fine Overview on Russia, but not Ukraine or Belarus
Insight Guide Russia Insightful But Not Complete

Russia, Belarus & Ukraine (Insight Guides)
Jane Hutchings
Manufacturer: Insight Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0887291759

Book Description

Insight Guides, the world's largest visual travel guide series, in association with Discovery Channel, the world's premier source of nonfiction entertainment, provides more insight than ever. From the most popular resort cities to the most exotic villages, Insight Guides capture the unique character of each culture with an insider's perspective. Inside every Insight Guide you'll find: .Evocative, full-colour photography on every page .Cross-referenced, full-colour maps throughout .A brief introduction including a historical timeline .Lively essays by local writers on the culture, history, and people .Expert evaluations on the sights really worth seeing .Special features spotlighting particular topics of interest .A comprehensive Travel Tips section with listings of the best restaurants, hotels, and attractions, as well as practical information on getting around and advice for travel with children

Customer Reviews:

Insight Guide: Russia........2007-01-05

This book gives ou a nice overview of the region, and incredible specific tips for visiting Russia.

A Fine Overview on Russia, but not Ukraine or Belarus.......2001-05-07

As usual for the Insight series, this book provides a great deal of practical information on the history, cultures, life, and tourism, especially for the visitor to the great cities of the Russian Federation, along many spectacular photographs. However, I thought the chapter on Lake Baikal was disproportionately long at the expense of other parts of rural Russia. Perhaps the book's greatest deficiency is the skimpy treatment of Ukraine (and Belarus, for that matter), which should now appear in their own full guides. Less than 60 pages of photos and text just doesn't cut it for these two countries combined. A charming photograph of a bunch of Ukrainian schoolkids posing for the camera more or less seems to ask the reader, "What about us?" Simply put, they should have an Insight Guide book of their own next time around.

Insight Guide Russia Insightful But Not Complete.......2000-04-19

Insight Guide Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine covers a goegraphically vast expanse of the three countries. It offers a comprehensive history of the regions, and an overview guide to slavic and eurasian culture; including music, art, theater, literature, and food. The large section dedicated to cities and towns of the three countries is excellent for a tourist who wants a brief overview of the architectural and cultural highlights of each location. The street, country, and metro maps are excellent. The small list of lodging and restaurants in each city is adequate, but not spectacular, and most listings are on the pricey side. This book did have one deficiency; while it listed the locations of each city and landmark on maps, the writers did provided limited insight as to how to reach these locations from a central point such as the larger cities in each region. There is no mention of specific bus or train routes connecting the cities, and little information about reaching outlying monasteries and resorts, other than a goegraphical direction. I recommend this book as an aid to a tourist on a an organized trip of Russia. It is also an excellent source for the independent traveller who speaks Russian well enough to arrange their own travel between cities by inquiring at train stations or tourist centers. Other useful tools are the language guide, tips on local customs, and the communication information pages, which offer telephone, mail, internet, and wiring information.

Lonely Planet Russia, Ukraine & Belarus (Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, 2nd ed)

Average customer rating:

A good book, replaced by a newer edition.
You may have to pick this one, but it will not please you
Somewhat outdated and too broad in scope.
Out of date...
A Guide for the Other 17,000,000 Square Kilometers

Lonely Planet Russia, Ukraine & Belarus (Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, 2nd ed)
Richard Nebesky , John Noble , George Wesley , Nick Selby , and Deanna Swaney
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0864427131

Book Description

This invaluable guide takes you beyond borsch, Bolsheviks and the Bolshoi to unveil cultural treasures, fast- moving cities, and vast, empty landscapes in a region that stretches halfway around the world.

124 detailed maps, including metro maps
special food & drink section - more than just vodka and caviar
tips on avoiding queues and beating bureaucracy
details on getting around, from Minsk to Moscow to Magadan
the latest on gallery-hopping in St Petersburg, lazing on a beach in Crimea and climbing volcanoes in the Russian Far East

Customer Reviews:

A good book, replaced by a newer edition........2004-01-06

This has been replaced by an updated edition (which eliminates Belarus). Search for 1740592654, or look under "Our Customers' Advice" above. It is still a great guide for your journey of Discovering Russia.

It is always best to get the most current guidebook, as attractions, hotels, restaurants and transportation options do often change--AND THEN VERIFY THAT INFORMATION!

Marc David Miller, Discovering Russia, New York

You may have to pick this one, but it will not please you.......2002-11-06

A good and usable guide to the entire Russia is still to be written. There are objective reasons for this - the country is huge, and 99% per cent of its territory has no hope of receiving meaningful numbers of tourists. Covering such an area adequately would be an incredibly difficult and expensive task; there is no travel publisher in the world at the moment willing to invest so much for so little expected in sales.

People who come to Russia mostly visit Moscow and St Petersburg, although a few also wander to the "Zolotoye Koltso" (Golden Ring) around Volga river - old cities of Vladimir, Suzdal or Uglich. If this is your case, the choice is easy: just pick one of the city guides (DK Eyewitness recommended - really the best, Fodor's Moscow and St Petersburg is also good, or try Rough Guide for less inspired but more exhaustive listings).

The question is - what to do if you go deeper into the country? Say, places in the Urals, or Russia's Far East? Well, you probably will have to dedicate a lot of effort to picking out nuggets of information from the Internet - preferably armed with some knowledge of the Russian language. Prepare your itinerary bit by bit, seek recommendations, write e-mails to people. It is time-consuming and requires effort, but you do not have a choice if you want to prepare for this trip properly.

Alternatively (an easy way, but not a good one) - buy this book, but make sure you have a pinch of salt on you. A spoonful of salt, rather. Or better make it a sack of salt. The shortcomings of this book have been noted by others: hopelessly outdated, inaccurate, poorly researched. There is a distinct feeling writers either did not visit some of the places they wrote about or spent very little time there. As for pricing information, you will be better off with a random number generator or a casino roulette than this book. I have never seen a guide where price information would be so disconnected from the reality.

There is also a matter of certain arrogance and disrespect to local culture, noted by one reviewer. Lonely Planet is famed for not pulling any punches and giving writers a lot of freedom to voice their opinions, but at times the feeling of writers' perceived cultural superiority is over the top.

So is this book worth buying at all? Well, maybe, if you don't mind carrying around something of very limited practical use. Luggage allowance permitting, you might as well have it - one out of five telephone numbers shown in the book might be still valid, some of the addresses may be accurate. Opening times? Here's rule of thumb: try between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays, chances are, the place will be open. It may occasionally prove useful, for the absence of a better choice, but please do not have excessive expectations.

The same is true for Belarus - the country is no more welcoming to travellers than Libya or Sudan, nosy travellers risk imprisonment and serious travel writing is practically non-existent. You can try using Lonely Planet, or you can get an excellent listings magazine Minsk In Your Pocket.

For Ukraine, choices are better. The country is relatively well-covered by general Eastern Europe guides, there is brilliant Hippocrene Language and Travel Guide to Ukraine (by Linda Hodges and George Chumak), or Ukraine Culture Shock by Meredith Dalton. Generally, you will find Ukraine friendlier to Westerners than Russia or Belarus and, most importantly, not preoccupied by desperate superpower ambitions and constant need to reassert its greatness.

I gave this Lonely Planet guide one star not only because you have to give it at least one star under Amazon system. The book deserves a star because it attempted to cover Russia, Ukraine and Belarus first. Commendable ambition, but sadly, the result is very poor. Maybe they will put together a better team next time, give it a bit more time and check their writing more meticulously.

Somewhat outdated and too broad in scope........2002-10-03

Any guide which tries to everextent itself by covering a too big an area will shortchange the reader, inspite of the best intensions. This is the case with this nitty-gritty Lonley Planet guide to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. I've found the information for Ukraine far less useful than in Linda Hodges' guide to Ukraine. Lonley Planet treats Russia, Ukraine and Belarus as if it still were part of the same country it was 11 years ago. All three countries have their unique pluses and minuses, and, lets face it, deserve their own individual guides. The reader is not being made aware enough and therefore does not really appreciate the fact that, for example, Russia and Ukraine are very different from one another, and any similarities are far less common than once assumed.What I liked best about the Lonley Planet guide,and the same is true for their other guides, are the details about the obscure and less-known hotels and restaurants.

Out of date..........2002-08-29

If you are planning only for staying in Moscow and St. Petersburg or want to travel with the Transibirian Train, don't use the book - there are better ones. This guidebook has it's strength certainly for the broad (and thus mostly not very deep) information and it is quite all right if you are travelling AROUND in Russia and visit also some of the smaller cities.

A fine thing I found out was the (sometimes a little too small) maps of nearly every town and the information about how to get to the place and how to leave it again.

On the other hand, the information about hotels' prices is VERY old and out of date completely. Expect to pay 2 to 4 times more than published in the book, Russia has get more expensive since the book has been written! So it is still better to check for hotels on the internet or to ask taxidrivers to lead you to a cheap one and if there's no place left, just go on with the same taxi to the next one. However if you don't care about paying sometimes around 60 Dollars or more a night then this doesn't matter anyway and the information about the hotels themselves is still right.

A Guide for the Other 17,000,000 Square Kilometers.......2002-03-23

So you have already seen the present and former capital, and now you would like to see the "real Russia", or you have adopted a child from Murmansk, or you are meeting a prospective bride from Magadan (don't laugh--whenever I answer questions from people who are traveling to regions outside of Moscow/St. Petersburg, 80% are going for adoption or marriage!). There are almost no current guidebooks to regions such as Perm, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Volgograd, Crimea, Minsk, and the Far East. The 'Lonely Planet Russia, Ukraine & Belarus (Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, 2Nded)' has the largest area coverage of any guide currently published in English.

It is also ideal for those taking a river cruise between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The coverage of the famed Trans-Siberian route is ok, although I think the 'Trans-Siberian Handbook' and 'Siberian Bam Guide : Rail, Rivers & Road' do a better job for those particular regions.

The Moscow/St. Petersburg sections are ok as well, although I think anyone spending more than a few days in each of those cities should look into guides that cover only those cities.

Restaurant, hotel and travel information are good, although could use more details. The history sections are adequate considering the scope of the book. Also, the twice-yearly updates at Lonely Planet's web site, although lacking in breadth and depth, provide some more timely information than what appears in the book.

Average customer rating:
Democratic Changes and Authoritarian Reactions in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova (Democratization and Authoritarianism in Post-Communist Societies)

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Democracy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Conflict, Cleavage, and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus (Democratization and Authoritarianism in Post-Communist Societies)

Democracy Derailed in Russia: The Failure of Open Politics (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

ASIN: 0521597323

Book Description

Edited by two leading analysts of post-communist politics, this book brings together distinguished specialists on Russia and the western newly independent states of the former USSR. Chapters on Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, plus three chapters on Russia's new political order, its political parties, and its regional politics and the overall process of democratization, provide an in-depth analysis of the uneven pattern of change in these four countries. Karen Dawisha and Bruce Parrott contribute theoretical and comparative chapters on postcommunist political development. This book will provide students and scholars with detailed analysis by leading authorities, plus the latest research data on recent political and economic trends in each country.

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