Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

The Upper Paleolithic of the Central Russian Plain
This book is like a bible to anyone interested in this particular area.Olga Soffer knows the material well.The book is easy to work through and provides numerous raw data tables making it simple to get straight to thefacts.

The book has many drawings and black & white photosthroughout. Each of the 29 sites studied has a comprehensive report thatdetails the history of the sites excavation; stratigraphy; artifactsrecovered; site plan (if available); and details of the site today. ... Read more

Product Description
The novelty of this publication lies primarily in its concept: the dictionary is aimed for practical use during fieldwork, which is to say direct communication with other scholars. Accordingly, the author's aim was to select and include in the dictionary terms that are most widely used in the practical language of archaeologists. The dictionary also contains words that are absolutely necessary for communication in the field (i.e. names of tools, human bones, materials, etc.) as well as popular archaeological jargon. The structure of the dictionary is similar to that of phrase books in that it helps the user not only find the translation of a term, but also a phonetic transcription and pronunciation. The small size and pocket format ensure that the book is easy to use in the field. ... Read more

Book Description
This fascinating monograph employs a world system model as thebasis for archaeological investigation of Russian America that relateslocal findings to global patterns. Author Aron Crowell examinesRussian, Spanish, and American historical sources along with thearchaeological evidence to uncover a preliterate culture that left nowritten record of its contact with European colonial powers. Crowell'sparticular subject is the indigenous Qikertarmiut people of KodiakIsland off the coast of Alaska. The special case of this tribe servesas a microcosm of the history of colonialism, demonstrating how earlyEuropean capitalism impacted and, in some cases, destroyed indigenoussocieties. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
"THE RUSSIAN'S WORLD is a unique achievement, which presents carefully selected portions of the Russian lexicon within a broad cultural context. It explains aspects of Russian culture and of Russian life (in short, "the Russian's world") in a lively and engaging manner and contains information that is of value to students of Russian language, literature, history, and culture of all levels, from those just past the beginner stage to the most advanced, and with every interest, be it nineteenth-century literature or contemporary society."

Excerpt from the Special Achievement Award conferred upon the second edition of THE RUSSIAN'S WORLD by the Publications Committee of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) in December 1993. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Good Textbook Source
This was a required book for a Russian class at SUNY Brockport.It was in good condition and delivered in a timely fashion.

Essential for Student or Traveler
This book can be used by students at any level form beginner to advanced as well as by tourists or other travelers to Russia who don't speak the language, but want to understand the people.The author touches on sensitive issues while remaining relatively non-judgemental, which is unusual and refreshing to find.

Prosto zamechatelnaya knizhka
It cannot be easy to describe an entire country, its People, its culture and its customs, in 400-odd pages. Nonetheless, that is exactly what Ms. Gerhart has done here.

She covers not only the basics, the "everything you want to know about Russia" -- she delights her readers by covering several things they may not have realized they wanted to know. For instance, the intelligentsia ordinarily shies away from discussing slang and "mat", perhaps thinking it beneath them. Yet Ms. Gerhart recognizes that, as a practical matter, this is something that simply has to be covered for people visiting or living in real-world Russia. You may not want to use bad words yourself, but you certainly want to know when the gentlemen in the flat-top haircuts and leather coats, walking towards you outside the metro station, are using them towards you... So in a completely proper and not at all vulgar manner, she tells you everything you really need to know about cursing in Russian -- along with a clear injunction to "not try this at home" yourself.

Personally, my favorite part of the book was her discussion of tools used in woodworking, a hobby of mine. I found the translations of these words, not commonly needed by a tourist in Russia, invaluable when I went on a short shopping spree seeking locally forged axes and chisels in podmoskovia. This section may not be for everyone, but it is demonstrative of a point I wish to make about the book as a whole: While not everything in the book may interest everyone, everyone who reads the book will find something that interests them -- perhaps something they never expected to find there.

a really wonderful book!
I have the 1974 paperback edition, and I can't give it enough praise.It's simply awesome!It gives a unique insight into the customs of Russian people as related to their history, their land, and their language.In the preface, the author states that her goal is to "explain in what physical ways the Russian world differs from [the American], both the given world of nature and the world of objects the Russian and his forbears have created to cope with it."In this she has succeeded beautifully.In many ways, everyday Russian life is powerfully affected by environment and tradition.Here is everything you need to know before you go.One of my travel tourguide books claims that many American visitors are "ultimately disappointed" by Russia.This is because they do not experience the *real* Russia, nor even know what to expect.If you are planning a vacation trip, read this book first and your visit will be much enhanced.If you stay there with Russian friends and associates, this book will enable you to understand and appreciate their quite different customs.And if you are learning Russian, this book gives a fascinating insight into the relationship between the language and the people who speak it.

If you are going there, buy this book
Having lived in Russia for the last two years, and dealt with Russians and Russian life daily, I believe the author has accurately summarized everything you should know prior to arriving or doing business here. Useful for both the unstudied tourist and students of Russian language. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Russian is not for Everyone!!
To complain that an Intermediate Russian coursebook contains too much grammar and too much vocabulary is not realistic since Russian requires a very trained mind, eye and feel. This book states its limits and its promisises up front, sort of saying that: if this is too hard for you, maybe you should use the Face to Face book before this one. Nothing hidden and also good advice for some, should they take it.
This book is very good at presenting information on customs and ideas and also sharp in its presentation of grammar, giving the learner much to learn and master as well as wonderful enrichment of a learner's attainment of a new level of learning.
Do I recommend this book? You bet!! I have used it and have found what I learned extremely helpful in my current study, which is now advanced.

Beyond intermediate.
I've taken 2 years of college Russian and consider myself fairly knowledgable, but this book is a bit beyond my abilities.The passages in the text are often crammed full of new vocab to learn and in between lessons is more grammer.The book does give you a huge insight to Russian culture, but it's not that great if you want to learn the language itself.I wish there was another text like the Nachalo series.

Good content but A little hard to read
My class is using this book for a third year Russian course. The book has a lot of great stories and exercises, but often it is difficult to read the book with the vast amount new vocabulary for a student to remember. The dictionary in the back does not have alot of basic words that the student may have forgotten since the second year of study. An additional dictionary is recommended. I often have to refer to my dictionary while doing homework. But I really learned a great deal about the Russian culture from the readings. ... Read more

Book Description
Kishinevsky tells the stores of three generations of women who immigrated to the United States from Russia and satellite states, inviting the reader into their reality and presenting their worldviews, attitudes and perspectives through powerful and exciting life stories.She interviewed five triads of immigrant women (retired grandmothers, midlife mothers and teenage daughters).Her analysis of these powerful pieces yields unexpected conclusions about the strength of family ties and intergenerational influences that continue to shape the worldview of young Russian-Americans.The book is written from a multicultural perspective exploring such general issues as acculturation, assimilation and psychological adjustment of immigrants as it applies to the Russian immigrants. ... Read more