Subjects:  1. Fiction   2. Historical fiction   3. History   4. Revolution, 1917-1921   5. Ukraine   

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Unknown Story: Not a Light Read, but great history
Victims of Yalta (also called The Secret Betrayal) is not light reading. It is long, scholarly, detailed. I just wanted to get that out upfront. If you like any of the following, this is a good book for you: * political intrigue * World War II * Cold War * Russian History * military history

What Tolstoy (distant relative of the famous late Count) does is tell the whole story of the fascinating, and sorrowful, situation that the Soviet peoples found themselves, 1941-45. Caught between the brutal racist nazis (Hitler), and their own paranoid communist regime (Stalin), these people are faced repeatedly with life or death choices.

While the majority of the book deals with the military men, note that many hundreds of thousands of civilians were also effected. The German army took during the course of WW2, about 5.7 MILLION soviet prisoners. Of those, something on order of 3 MILLION died. Initially, if the prisoners weren't shot out of hand (political commissars and jews), they were often herded into makeshift prisons and left to their own devices. Sometimes these were literally barbed wire enclosures of open steppe. The POWs died by the tens of thousands in the first year.

But the Germans, having suffered 750,000 casualties in the first 5 months of the war with USSR, were in desperate need of manpower. One source was the willing Soviet volunteers. At first, Hitler flat forbade any Soviet from carrying arms, but "hiwis" (helpers) in German units were ignored. Tens of thousands drove trucks, polished boots, cooked meals, etc. Often, when faced with the horrible conditions in German POW camps, these men would accept the words of the German officers come to seek recruits. Some joined simply out of self-preservation, others to fight communism. Though organized formations were forbidden, over time, as the war continued chewing up German manhood, units were organized. At first, this was only of the minorities - esp. the Baltics (Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians). The USSR was made up of over 150 ethnic groups, so many of the prisoners taken were of non-Russian heritage, even non-Slavic background. Soon, Georgian, Armenian, Azeri, "Cossack", Turkic, Tatar/Tartar and other Legions were formed. Most served in rear areas, fighting partisans and doing support functions.

As the German army began to lose, and fell back from the gates of Moscow and Stalingrad, then Kursk and Kharkov, Hitler ordered the units moved west. He never trusted them, and feared a mass desertion or their rebellion. Those units were thus moved to Netherlands, France, Italy, Yugoslavia, etc. Generally, they were security troops, fighting partisans, or acting in garrison capacity. Many were on the Atlantic Wall - awaiting the West's invasion. But they had no grudge with the Americans, British, and Canadians. They wanted (generally) to fight communism - Stalin - but they didn't want to fight _for_ Germany. Their morale plummeted - but what could they do?

The most interesting stories to me are of the British attempts to get Soviet Govt to acknowledge the existence of large numbers of Soviets in German uniform - and thus get a Soviet answer as to what they should do with these men.

Another interesting - and horrible - story surrounds the Cossacks, and their forcible return to the Soviets by the British in Austria, right after the end of the war. These men moved their whole families with them, and formed into units in the German army, finally ending up as the 15th SS Cavalry Corps, fighting Bulgarians, Yugoslavs, and the Red Army, in Yugoslavia. Suicide was one alternative for these men.

Like I said, not a light read, but a very interesting story - Tolstoy covers all aspects - from the high leaders (like Churchill and Eden in Britain), to the bureaucrats and military leaders charged with carrying out the tasks assigned, regardless of personal views, and of course to the Soviet citizens themselves. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1551 or 2-1605   2. Biography / Autobiography   3. Boris Fyodorovich Godunov,   4. Czar of Russia,   5. General   6. In literature   7. Karamzin, Nikolai Mikhailovi   8. Literary Criticism   9. Literature: Classics   10. Opera   11. Russia   12. Russia - History   13. Russian & Former Soviet Union   14. Russian Literature   15. Boris Fyodorovich Godunov   16. Boris Godunov   17. Istoriia gosudarstva rossiiskogo   18. Karamzin, Nikolai Mikhailovich   19. Mussorgsky, Modest Petrovich   20. Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich   

Subjects:  1. 1809-1852   2. Continental European   3. Drama   4. General   5. Gogol, Nikolai Vasilevich,   6. Performing Arts/Dance   7. Plays / Drama   8. Russian Drama   9. Theater - General   10. Translations into English   11. Gogol§, Nikolai Vasil§evich   

Subjects:  1. Bulgaria   2. Fiction   3. Social life and customs   

Subjects:  1. Architecture   2. Golf - General   3. Golf courses   4. Landscape   5. Maintenance   6. Turf management   7. Architecture / Landscape   

Customer Reviews (1)

Fantasic piece of scholarship.
You can't help but respect a book with a bibliography that's fully one-fifth of its size. Tolstoy's knowledge of Celtic lore is impressive in its depth and expansive in its scope. He draws from a deep well of myth, legend and written history to create an argument that requires no small amount of concentration to appreciate fully but is even more satisfying because of it. It was an amazing learning experience that I would recommend to any serious Celtic aficionado. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Folklore & Mythology - Folklore   2. Sociology   

Customer Reviews (3)

Perfect historical reading
Highly recommended for anyone who wishes to understand Yugoslavia's history and the British involvement in the cause of the events.

"The Minister and the Massacres"
This historic account of atrocities against the Domobranci (soldiers) and also Slovene women and children must never be forgotten. Each day new evidence is revealed that this book is a book of fact.

Excellent
This book gives an oft-never heard account particularly of the Slovenes, Croats in addition to the Cossacks,of their forced repatriation during the postwar 1945 period from the former Tito-led Yugoslavia. This book portrays the betrayl of Slovene Domobranci, Croatians, and many civilians by the British and American allies who forced thousands to their deaths by Tito's partisans. At last the ex-patriat Slovenes' story is told at some length, that although the Domobranci who were reluctantly aligned with the Nazis and were not the enemy of the allies,(whom they assisted at every opportunity), but it was solely for their survival to fight the real enemy , the barbaric communist partisans(Stalinist collaborators for that matter).

This is in contrast to the history written by the victors whose label of Nazi collaborators is an easy, convenient method to discredit them. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Macmillan, Harold   

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Subjects:  1. Classics   2. Literary Criticism   3. Russian & Former Soviet Union   4. Short Stories (single author)   

Subjects:  1. Dialectical materialism   2. Socialism   3. Reference / General   

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography   2. Biography/Autobiography   3. Political   

Subjects:  1. Algebraic Geometry   2. General   3. Geometry - Algebraic   4. Mathematics   5. Quantum Field Theory   6. Quantum Theory   7. Science/Mathematics   

Customer Reviews (2)

Marauders
The Bulbas were an old Cossack family. Ostap and Andrei, sons of Taras Bulba, attended the Kiev Seminary. Taras leads his sons to the Cossack encampment for them to become warriors. It is sort of their fate. The headman says he has promised the sultan there would be no war. Taras arranges for the election of a new headman. Soon all of southwest Poland is prey to a fear that the Cossacks are coming.

It is wonderful to enter into the minds and intentions of the marauders. The Cossacks had been inflamed to be warlike under reports of other religious groups failing to respect Eastern Orthodoxy.

Andrei runs into the servant of a woman he saw and fell in love with at the Seminary and becomes concerned that she is starving and that the harsh rations of his group are unsuitable fare for her. The sight of peopole starving is awful to Andrei. In the girl's presence, Andrei feels uncouth. He has spent his life in the Seminary and on the steppes.

The Cossacks are beseiging the city. Suddenly an army breaks through and Andrei is lost to Taras and the others. It is reported that Andrei has gone over to the other side under his own free will.

Ostrap Bulba is elected a chief. Part of the Cossack forces follow the Tartars out of the city to retrieve their prisoners, and the rest remain in the vicinity of the city for the same purpose, to retrieve the Cossack prisoners taken by the Poles. Ostap and Taras stay to confront the Poles. They are surprised to encounter Andrei. Taras kills Andrei.

Ostap is taken prisoner and transported to Warsaw. Taras seeks out Yankel to hide him and take him to Warsaw. Through the arrogant will of the Polish aristocracy, the captured Cossacks are tortured, Ostap included. Taras is a witness to the scene.

A Cossack Army 120,000 strong is massed on the border of the Ukraine. Among all the regiments, the crack regiment is led by Taras Bulba. The Russian Orthodox clergy go out to meet the Cossacks. Taras's exploits go well beyond ordinary raids.

The story is colorful and excellent.

Tara Bulba- Cossack Glory
I read this book in my youth and loved it then. Revisiting it hasn't diminished the richness of its style or the quality of its impact. I love it still. Taras Bulba captures the wildness of spirit of the Cossacks and their role in the early Russia. It shows the magnificence of the qualities of love, loyalty and bravery. It also shows the opposite side of the human psyche mainly cruelty and despair in the face of overwhelming force.

There are always two values in Russian literature and music a high booming note and a low resonating note. This triumph of Gogol exhibits both in true Russian style. In a way this illuminates the components of Russian character.

It is by no means easy critiquing a work by the great Gogol but to advise readers to sample this great work I feel is a duty and a privilege.

By all means read this book, it goes to the heart of the Cossack and Russian soul. It will answer the basic question about the Russian people's love of motherland which has echoed throughout Russian history. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics   2. Literature - Classics / Criticism   

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Subjects:  1. Fiction   2. Fiction / Short Stories (single author)   3. Short Stories (single author)   

Subjects:  1. Diodes, Semiconductor   2. Injection lasers   3. Molecular Physics   4. Physics   5. Quantum dots   6. Science   7. Science/Mathematics   8. Semiconductors   9. Electrical engineering   10. Fibre optics   11. Laser technology   12. Nanotechnology   13. Quantum physics (quantum mechanics)   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics   2. Business/Economics   3. Dance - Choreography   4. Pas de deux   5. Performing Arts   6. Reference - General   

Customer Reviews (2)

Recommended for anyone interested in Stalin's rise to power
This is one of the most haunting books I have ever read. Larina provides a window into one of the most disturbing periods of modern history. The reader will find himself (or herself) drawn into the madness that was Stalin's system of terror of the 1930's. The author's survival of the purges, and her determined faith in her doomed husband, are a testimony to the spirit of the Russian people.

A remarkable memoir from a widow's perspective.
In reading this remarkable book, one should not forget that it is a widow's memoir, not an historical work. Anna Larina was but a child when she fell in love with the charismatic Nikolai Bukharin, one of the inner circle of Bolshevik intellectuals who seized control of Russia during the October Revolution in 1917. When they married, she was a beautiful Russian girl barely out of her teens and Bukharin was a celebrated national figure of 43. They had a very short married life together before Bukharin was swept into Stalin's counter-revolutionary net with trumped-up charges that he was plotting an anti-Bolshevik takeover including a plan to assassinate Stalin himself. This culminated in the celebrated "Moscow Show Trials" of the 1930's where Bukharin "confessed" his guilt and was executed.

All this is written about from the horrified wife's perspective and it makes an absorbing narrative, indeed. It was not enough for the Stalinist Communists of that era to imprison the accused. They imprisoned the family of the accused as well. Being the wife of a counter-revolutionist was a crime in Communist Russia. And so -- off to imprisonment or exile. That Anna's and Bukharin's son was only a year old at the time, made no difference to the proletarian authority. The child was taken from the mother's arms and finally was raised in foster homes. It took 20 years before mother and son were reunited. The scene describing the reunion of the mother with her lost son is one of the many high points of her book. Anna's vivid descriptions of her life in squalid, filthy prisons she was sent to over the years is reminiscent of Solzhenitsyn's work. Yet, somehow she did not fully convey the intense moral outrage of such an unjust treatment. Perhaps, that is because she had to learn to suppress those feelings to keep alive, to hang on to sanity.

In her view, it was not Bolshevism but Stalin who was the villain. He is everyone's villain in post-communist Russia. Anna Larina makes no effort to soften her feelings for the dictator who once had been a friend of Bukharin's but who finally did him in.

She argues Bukharin's innocence not as a lawyer would but with all the emotion of a wife whose husband, son and youth were stolen unjustly from her by one of the Century's most vicious despots.

I highly recommend this book to be read after obtaining a more historical perspective in Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution : A Political Biography, 1888-1938 by Stephen F. Cohen who, incidentally, penned the introduction to Anna Larina's most interesting and memorable book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography   2. Biography/Autobiography   3. Historical - General   4. Works by individual poets: from c 1900 -   

Customer Reviews (2)

The truth hooted down
When this book first appeared, the New York Review of Books issued a long review in which the whole point of the book was dismissed as some sort of wishful thinking on the part of an author with an agenda. But the evidence is overwhelming that Karlinsky is correct in his opinion, and that Gogol can never be understood except from this standpoint. Imagine a major reviewing organ dismissing "theories" as to somebody like Wilde, Gide, Verlaine, etc., and one can see the magnitude of the absurdity of the dismissive review.

Mistery of Gogol
Since the age of ten when I first read some works by Nikolai Gogol I was mesmerized by the mystery of his obscure and secluded life and tragic end (he burned the second part of his biggest work just several days before his death). At that time I knew nothing about the homosexuality. Karlinsky's book is not only an account of the past, a life story of a person who lived a long time ago, it is a story of struggle with the inner self, the unability to accept one's own sexuality 'as is' which played the tragic role in the fate of that famed Russian writer from a small Ukrainian village. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General   2. Unassigned Title   3. Criticism and interpretation   4. Gogol§, Nikolai Vasil§evich   5. Relations with men   

Subjects:  1. Mathematics   2. Number Theory