In the winter of 1909, a political bombshell exploded in tsarist Russia. Scandal swept not only the empire but the entire world with the exposure of the secret life of one man. Newspaper headlines int
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin—drinker, thief, womanizer—arrived in St. Petersburg in 1903 as if from the medieval past . . . tattered, black-clad, muttering. By the time of his sensational murder thirtee
Rappaport describes some of the most fundamental aspects of the Soviet leader and the political system that he instituted in a form that is accessible both to students of Russia and to lay readers who
Stalinism is a provocative addition to the current debates related to the history of the Stalinist period of the Soviet Union. Sheila Fitzpatrick has collected together the newest and the most exciti
What has been happening in the last ten years in former communist Eastern Europe? Has the process of transition been completed successfully? What are the prospects for the future? In trying to give so
Masters at visual propaganda, the Bolsheviks produced thousands of vivid and compelling posters after they seized power in October 1917. Intended for a semi-literate population that was accustomed to
A survivor of the Nazi genocide documents--through seventeen years of research--the stories and history of the Jews of Eishyshok, a Polish shtetl that was destroyed in 1944 by the Nazis who killed all
Between 1935 and 1938 the celebrated photographer Roman Vishniac explored the cities and villages of Eastern Europe, capturing life in the Jewish shtetlekh of Poland, Romania, Russia, and Hungary, com
The authors examine the diverse ways that language and other symbols--including flags and emblems, public rituals, songs, and codes of dress--were used to identify competing sides and to create new me
At the close of this century, the identity of Lithuania as its own nation stands well-established, after many years of war and foreign domination. This book illustrates the way in which Lithuanian nat
This is an analytical account of a colorful period in Russian history, which is accessible to undergraduates of European and Russian history, as well as to the nonspecialist reader. Central to a discu
Donald Treadgold was one of the most distinguished Russian historians of his generation. His Twentieth Century Russia, a standard text in colleges and universities for several decades, has been regula
Stalin and the Soviet Union examines the Soviet leader's domestic and foreign policy covering core topics such as his rise to power, economic policies, society and culture, politics and terror, the Se
The recent war in Chechnya, despite all the media coverage, remains a confusing tangle for many people. The war was the result of many conflicting political, economic, judicial, and military issues th
This subtle, unusual book explores the many, often overlapping ways in which the Russian Jewish past has been remembered in history, in literature, and in popular culture. Drawing on a wide range of s
Unlike the other two Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia, which have only known independence in the 20th century, Lithuania shared with Poland a vast empire in the 14th and 15th centuries. Keeping its
Describes many things that originally came from Russia, including inventions, sports and games, food, fashion, musical instruments, animals, arts and crafts, and words
Peter the Great, crowned tsar of Russia at the age of ten, believed that whatever he wanted he should have -- and the sooner the better. What he wanted most was to bring his beloved country into the m
In its first years as an independent state, Azerbaijan was a prime example of post-Soviet chaos - beset by coups and civil strife and astride an ethnic, political and religious divide. Author Goltz wa
