Customer Reviews (1)

Belarus (Then & Now)
Belarus (Then & Now)
This book is definately out-dated as it was written in the mid-1990's. The flag is nolonger accurate, but that's just the tip of the ice burg as far as the inaccuracies go. I think a better title would be "Then & Then" or "Then & What it could have been."
Still. The pictures of daily life for Belarusians are close enough. And it does still show the change from Soviet to an independant republic. Just keep in mind that there's a whole 'nother story that follows this one. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A poorly researched book with factual and other errors
Sadly, this is one of the very few books with information on this part of the world - and it gets many facts wrong. This book is obvoiusly aimed at the K-12 market, and aims to function as a primer on this region.Unfortunately, it fails.

* Ukrainian place names are invariably given inRussian instead of Ukrainian (for example, Kyiv is spelled Kiev in thisbook).

* Moldovan place names are either not spelled correctly - e.g."Belsiy" for Balti, or given in Russian - e.g."Kishinev" for Chisinau.

* Country names are not accurate - forexample, the German Democratic Republic is labeled as "EastGermany".

* Information on these countries' ethnic minorities isshallow. The Gagauz and Bulgarian minorities in Moldova are simply labeledas "other", and the percentage of the pie chart given to these"others" is wrong (13 per cent instead of approximately 4 percent).

* Finally, many other details are wrong. For example, Moldova isdescribed as having "abundant natural resources and well-developedindustries", when in fact Moldova imports nearly all of its power andnatural resources, and has virtually no developed industry save for somedecaying factories in the Trans-Dniestr Republic.

In short, save yourmoney. If you're looking for information on these countries, lookelsewhere. ... Read more