Customer Reviews (6)

How to sacrifice
I believe a reviewer below has confused this book from 1994 with Tal's earlier and more well-known book titled Life and Games. Life and Games is 500 pages, but this book titled Attack with Tal is just under 200 pages and theres no problem with the binding. This was Tal's last book and remains uncompleted because it lacks a chapter on queenside attacks. However what is here is of extremely high quality- each chapter in Attack With Tal starts out with dozens of example positions, then a few complete games by Tal, and then some test problems. All in all there are 16 complete games by Tal, 36 test problems, and more than 100 positions. The diagrams were not labeled with which side to move, so I had to go through the book and check the diagrams off with a pencil- this way I can study the positions before reading the text and the solution. Editing the diagrams took me about an hour as I had to double check my work, but now I have a finished textbook on how to sacrifice. Excellent work and unfortunately Tal died before the book was published. Books that have been published recently about Tal are not as good as this one.

A great book.
Even from reading the first few pages my abilities as an attacker on the board has gotten better. To those who ever wonder how he manages to find the right time to attack, this book will show you how. my only complaint is that the book does not discuss attacking on the queenside.

Great...
Mikhail Tal's game collection is one of the best books ever written by a world champion, but I cannot recommend this edition and here's why: Cadogan Books always fall apart! Regardless of the size of the book, I cannot get through a Cadogan book without half the pages falling out. The pages started falling out before page 80 of this 496-page book. Tal is probably the best writer of all the world champions, but do you really want to pay twenty-five bucks or so for a book that falls apart while you're reading it and has little or no resale value? Despite all that, if you don't mind reading your books in pieces, by all means buy this book. For you, I give this book 5 stars. Cadogan has several other great chess books and will surely publish more great ones in the future; but I won't be qualified to review them, because I will NEVER buy another Cadogan book again. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chess   2. Chess - General   3. Games   4. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords   5. Games/Puzzles   6. Video & Electronic - General   

Subjects:  1. History   2. History - General History   3. History: World   4. Jewish - General   5. Judaism - History   

Customer Reviews (1)

Essential reading if you admire Bulgakov's work
Since I can't read Russian, I have to read Bulgakov's marvelous plays and novels ("Heart of a Dog", "The Master and Margarita", "Bliss") in translation. Nor did I experience, first-hand, the horrors of the Stalin purges.

I love the work of Bulgakov--he's a master of satire and imagination. This biography in letters and notes is really essential for the non-Russian reader to get a sense of his history, life and work in a way that can't be conveyed in translation. It put all that I had read by Bulgakov into a far more comprehensible light. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1891-1940   2. 20th century   3. Authors, Russian   4. Biography   5. Biography / Autobiography   6. Biography/Autobiography   7. Bulgakov, Mikhail Afanasevich   8. Literary   9. Russian & Former Soviet Union   10. Russian Literature   

Customer Reviews (1)

A fine book by a a top Bakhtin theorist!
Here is an academic book that anyone interested in language, literature, and cinema should love. Beautifully written (as few academic books are), it applies the cultural criticism of Russian writer Mikhail Bakhtin to a diverse selection of novels and films, but most notably to those from Brazil. It is a match made in heaven, because both Bakhtin and Brazil believe in carnival (the joyful festivities that take place just before Lent, known in the States as Mardi Gras) and the carnivalesque (where rules are suspended, the oppressed take center stage, the powerful are mocked, and the body is celebrated). Stam begins by providing a clear and thorough overview of Bakhtin's precepts and terminology (dialogism, chronotope, heteroglossia), showing how his writing can fill in the gaps left by other theories and illuminate both artistic texts and everyday life. He then moves on to discuss the conjunction between Bakhtin and film theory specifically, providing elegant analyses of Bunuel's "Exterminating Angel," Godard's "Two or Three Things I Know About Her," Welles's unfinished "It's All True" (much of which was shot in Brazil), Brazilian classics such as "Macunaima," and "Mar das Rosas/Sea of Roses." and several others. Along the way, he takes in such issues as the grotesque and magical body, the subversive as well as the pleasurable potential of carnival, the uses of cannibalism, and cinematic eroticism. This wide-ranging study takes in everything from music (by Brazilian composers Caetano Veloso and Chico Buarque, plus rap) to the influence of the Yiddish theater on Woody Allen's "Zelig." An outstanding book that's a delight to read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Mikhail Mikhailovich),   2. Bakhtin, M. M   3. Criticism   4. Film & Video - History & Criticism   5. Literary Criticism   6. Motion pictures   7. Motion pictures and literature   8. Pop Arts / Pop Culture   9. Popular Culture - General   10. Semiotics   11. Special Subjects In Motion Pictures   

Customer Reviews (3)

Introduction to derivative Bakhtin Scholarship
This book is most misleading, and at best only an introduction to Bakhtin from Ms. Vice's viewpoint. It is an example of some of the "scholarship" currently riding the Bakhtin wave, heavily influenced by personalized interpretations of current trendy concepts and secondary scholarship. Her "alibi" (p.2) taken from Wall and Thomson, is that no study can function "from within Bakhtin's thought", and this presumably gives her justification to go entirely her own way, which is not bad, but is not supposed to be the intent of the book, and does very little for Bakhtin scholarship.

Vice chooses five different Bakhtinian "Concepts", Heteroglossia, Dialogism, Polyphony, Carnivalesque and Chronotope, and builds a chapter around each, illustrating them in every case with Novels or Films, mostly from the 1990's, chosen by her, none of which occur in Bakhtin's work. An example is the "Chronotope Chapter", which uses the Film "Thelma and Louise" as the central example. The reader will search in vain in the chapter and index for authors such as Goethe, Stendhal, Flaubert, Sterne, Hippel, Wezel, Jean Paul and others repeatedly mentioned as examples in Bakhtin's Essay: "Forms of Time and Chronotope in the Novel". This chapter is so far removed from Bakhtin's work, that it is impossible for the reader to get an understanding of his work, which was according to the definition of the Chronotope given by Bakhtin to show: "..the intinsic connectedness of temporal and spatial relationships that are artistically expressed in literature," (Bakhtin - p.84). It becomes questionable to what extent Vice understands the concepts discussed, and unlikely that she has read the examples used by Bakhtin.

It is difficult to understand how students, the supposed target audience of this book, according to the introduction, are supposed to come away with an understanding and appreciation of Bakhtin's work, when practically none of the many excellent examples he uses are even mentioned. Instead the book relies heavily on secondary Literature and current Bakhtin "Scholarship".

I can only recommend this book to readers who are fammilar with both Bahktin's work and subsequesnt studies. I instead highly recommend Gary Saul Morson and Caryl Emerson: "Creation of a Prosaics", a much more worthwhile introduction.

A Decent Intro to Some Fascinating Ideas
Sue Vice's book certainly achieves its stated goal of introducing the increasingly popular ideas of Mikhail Bakhtin to the general public. This books greatest aspect, perhaps, is that it manages separate out Bakhtin's major ideas from his many books. However, Vice's prose is sometimes a bit muddled and I occasionally found myself turning to the source material (Bakhtin) to clarify a point that she had made. Also, while no problem for me, someone not in the lit or philosophy field might have some trouble with the lit-crit terminology Vice throws at you. Overall a good book but could be a bit better.

Accomplishes its Objective
Sue Vice's "Introducting Bakhtin" does just that. As a relative newcomer to the field of literary theory (by way of cultural studies), I found the book to be a lucid introduction to Bakhtin and his concepts of heteroglossia, dialogism, polyphony, carnival, and the chronotope. Lit-crit discourse is a challenge to grasp as first, especially if one's background is in the social sciences, as mine is. But if the reader brings some patience and a true interest in Bakhtin and his ideas, he or she will be rewarded. My objective was be able to understand Bakhtian references in the cultural studies pieces I read as a doctoral student in consumer behavior. I am happy to report that, not only was this objective achieved, but I was further spurred to go directly to the source and read Bakhtin myself. Sue Vice does a fine job explaining and applying these complex ideas. I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Mikhail Mikhailovich),   2. 1895-1975   3. Bakhtin, M. M   4. Criticism   5. Literary Criticism   6. Literature - Classics / Criticism   7. Semiotics & Theory   8. Literary Criticism & Collections / Theory   

Customer Reviews (4)

Underrated classic
Ive read the book reviews for The Magic of Tal both here and at the chesscafe archives, and the criticism of this book is unwarranted.
So these are weak opponents that Tal faces? I guess Spassky and Korchnoi are considered weak if you are a 1600 rated player who writes reviews. The criticism that 34 deeply annotated games spread over 200 pages is poor value is absurd.
I now read all reviews merely for factual information and I totally disregard personal opinions as those opinions are apparently worthless.

34 Complete annotated games from 1975-1990
Good book, but read Tal's Life and Games (Cadagon/Everyman 1997 algebraic edition) before tackling Gallagher's take on Tal's last years.

Great effort, but not the same...
Joe Gallagher does a great job on this book which is a follow-up of Tal's "Life and Games of Mikhail Tal." Gallagher is known for his great works on the openings, and that is reflected here as he uses Tal's games as a vehicle for opening study. The format is great, also following "L and G", with tournament/match results, ratings, and stories strewn about. The game notes are very good.

The downsides of this book are that 1) it is extremely hard to live up to Tal's beautiful writing and notes. Afterall, "Life and Games" is considered to be one of the best chess books ever written. Gallagher just doesn't have the same fire and passion in his writing and notes. Maybe he should have chosen a format that is different from "L and G" if he wanted to avoid such an obvious comparison. He tells some nice stories about Tal, but rather flatly. 2) the games are not of the same quality and beauty as Tal's earlier ones. The opponents are not as strong, and Tal's style dulled a bit, becoming more solid at the expense of sparkling sacs and combinations. However, the games are thoroughly enjoyable if you don't think about is earlier games too much. 3) The introduction chapter is too long, since it covers what Tal already has (before 1975). I found it a bit redundant, although it nice to have another perspective on this best part of Tal's career.

Overall, this is a must have for any Tal fan, as it is well done and gives a complete story in conjunction with "L and G." Just don't be too disappointed that it is not the same quality as Tal's classic work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chess - General   2. Games   3. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords   4. Games/Puzzles   5. Games / Chess   

Customer Reviews (2)

Learning tactics
The best book I have ever read to learn tactics. Each piece is studied with a great care and a great number of typical position. After reading it you will find computers stupid!

five stars learning book
The best book I have ever read to learn about tactics ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chess - Specific Strategies   

Customer Reviews (1)

Bleak Civil War
This is the sequel to "And Quiet Flows the Don", and carries the story of the group of Don Cossacks into the period of Civil War in Russia which followed the Bolshevik Revolution.

If you're into war novels, you should enjoy this book. Basically, it's a long tale of the depravities of war, treachery infidelity, misfortune and atrocity. There is no way that the reader can retain a romanticised image of war after slogging through this. The horrors of war are made that bit more tragic by the fact that this was a civil war - towns, villages and even families were divided. Loyalties to the White Russians and to the Red Army were themselves ambiguous and mutable.

Sholokhov interrupts his narrative frequently with descriptions of the flora and fauna, and the seasonal changes in the Don area, as if to say that whatever humans get up to, Mother Nature just continues her work. I got the message Sholokhov was trying to impart about the insignificance of human obsessions quite early on, and found that the repeated descriptions of nature in the novel became more contrived and lost their effect as a result.

I think that the problem I had with the novel was its very bleakness. I have no problem with depicting war as it is rather than dressing it up in romantic verbiage, but as this story slogged its way on from one battle description and tale of inhumanity to the next, I struggled to keep going. There's no redeeming character in the whole novel - you feel that as unfortunate as all the characters were, their faults made you unsympathetic with their fates (the only possible exception is Gregor's wife, Natalia Melekhova, and as a whole the men are depicted far less sympathetically than the women - women's place in society made them greater victims).

I found myself torn between being depressed at Sholokhov's pessimistic vision of humanity, and thinking that in a civil war situation, such a conclusion would be almost inevitable. In all, the novel hardly an uplifting read: perhaps, with present world events, I was in need of something more optimistic. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics   2. Fiction   3. Historical - General   4. Literature - Classics / Criticism   5. Literature: Classics   6. War & Military   

Customer Reviews (2)

Solid but dry history
This book is very well researched but it's an incredibly boring read. If you're interested in things like Soviet wheat production in the 1940's, this is the book for you. The writer does a good job of showing how the twisted Soviet ideology made the U.S.S.R. more than just your "typical" dictatorship. The book makes it all too clear that the country under Stalin was simply a hell on earth. Unfortunately, personalities and geopolitical situations are given very short shrift and this is what makes the book such a difficult read. The book condenses far too much concering the immediate pre-Revolutionary era as well as the Revolution itself and the subsequent consolidation. One scarcely has an idea why it happened or why the people who led it tried to make it come about. Some fascinating passages concern the time just after after St. Petersburg falls. The Bolsheviks simply wait and do nothing, apparently believing that the historical "laws" set forth by Marx will soon kick into gear and communism will just appear. Instead things turn bloody quickly. Tragic and comic all at once. A bit more of this kind of thing would have made for a better read. By the end of the book the author ignores the conclusion his own book should have been leading him too. He shows how the Soviet Union had become a stagnant backward hopeless mess with an embittered populace, yet he fails to see its inevitable collapse which occurred just shortly after the publication of the book. Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose but if the CIA had had a few copies of this book back in the 1980's, perhaps they would not have been so blindsided.

Best History of the Soviet Union I Have Read!
Heller and Nekrich have written a comprehensive, indepth history of the Soviet Union. They give a perspective that is not politicized nor P.C., but factual. A must read for 20th century scholors and students. I would also highly recommend Heller's book "Cogs in the Wheel" to understand how the Soviet Union tried to reshape humane nature. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1917-   2. General   3. History   4. History - General History   5. History: American   6. Soviet Union   

Subjects:  1. 1895-1975   2. Bakhtin, M. M. (Mikhail Mikhai   3. Criticism   4. Literary Criticism   5. Literature - Classics / Criticism   6. Semiotics & Theory   

Subjects:  1. 1918-   2. Ballet   3. Biography   4. Biography / Autobiography   5. Canada   6. Dance - Classical   7. Dance teachers   8. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Dancers   9. Oliphant, Betty,   10. Performing Arts   11. Performing Arts/Dance   12. Oliphant, Betty   

Customer Reviews (5)

Excellent for Modellers and Wargamers!
This is a rather nice volume (typical of most Osprey's Men-at-Arms series) that has one thing that stands out: the wonderfull colour plated illustrated by Russian artist Andrei Karachtchouk.The figures in his paintings---be they Russian Volunteer Officers, Former-Czarist guards, Ukranian nationalists, Islamic Basmachi rebels---are all full of character! This book will no doubt serve as a uniform guide to many modellers and wargamers out there!
The book itself is a rather "dry" read, compromising mainly of army lists for the different White Armies in the different fronts of the war in Russia; but nevertheless, the photographs and colour plates accompanying the text is outstanding!
Highly recommended for the modeller and wargamer, although others should look for a more detailed "in depth" book on the campaigns and overall history of the Russian Civil War.

Great plates good introduction
The art in this ospery edition is really quite good. There is a great amount of attention paied to uniform details. The birsk 48 page read provided some useful insight into the structure of the White Army of the Russian Civil War such as there close collaboration with Kuban and Don Cossacks also the multi-layered nature of the anti-Bolshevik movement as a whole from the right wing monarchists to the arachist partisans that fought red and white. i really loved the plates on the black uniformed officers units. Buy it!!!

Good place to get started
The RED ARMY is a good hastely review of the RCW from the Red Army view. I recommend it to all. However, some of the information is incorrect and OOB chart are wrong. The book is basically an extremely edited version of the Soviet encyclopedia "Civil War and Military Intervention in the SSSR". Many of the entries in Red Army are from the encyc. word for word and sometimes the best info is left out or conclusions incorrect. Granted the Osprey format does not have a lot of room for text. Its companion the White Army is more detailed where the Red Army is terrible general in detail. If you could see the source for the info you would understand what has been left out. I liked the book, but was left with more questions than when I started. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union   2. History - Military / War   3. History: World   4. Military - General   5. Military Science   6. Civil war   7. History   8. Land forces & warfare   9. Russia   

Customer Reviews (1)

Collectivisation in the Soviet Union
The Communist official Siemion Davidov arrives in the Don community of Gremyachy Log in order to start a collective farm. The community divides between those for the collective farm, and those (mainly the better-off farmers or "kulaks") fiercely opposed to it.

The subject of collectivisation in the rural Soviet Union will no doubt be as dry as old bones to many readers - that was my reaction too as I started the book. However, the Sholokhov explores many complicated issues:

* the view that all property is theft versus the inviolability of private property rights;

* do oppressive landowners deserve any loyalty from their workers?

* the conflict of essentially modernising forces (personified by Davidov, whose background is industrial-urban) with backward "traditional" rural Russia (personified by the locals); and even

* the catastrophic effects of contradictory dictats issued from the centre.

Sholokhov's position (I thought) was esssentialy pro-collectivisation, although he does not spare the reader the real problems associated with it. What does let the book down somewhat is that it's very uneven - there are long passages in which the characters tell anecdotes from their past, some meant to be humerous, others poignant. I thought most of these did not work well and were a distraction. Of course, it's fundamentally a bleak novel - the subject matter makes this almost inevitable. Luckily enough, I seemed to be in the mood! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction   2. Fiction - General   3. Literary   

Customer Reviews (3)

The Book for Which the Word "Gorbasm" was Invented
I recently re-read both Smith's original "The Russians" and "The New Russians." The first book was a landmark, a riveting inside look at the USSR during the Brezhnev years, though Smith's conclusion (that the Soviet system would endure indefinitely) was dead wrong. (No shame in that. Predictions by NYT writers about the future of Russia are generally wrong.)

The second book, though written by the same man, using the same reporting techniques, is completely different. It is less about Russia (or the rest of the former USSR) than it is about Mikhail Gorbachev and the wonders he had performed and would surpass in the future. Gorbachev comes from Lincolnesque beginnings. Gorbachev does no wrong. Gorbachev has no antidemocratic side -- unless circumstances force him to act in such a way. Gorbachev is the driving force and visionary architect of the restructuring and opening of Russian society. It's as if one of Stalin's old apologists had been resurrected and put back to work -- with "Stalin" inked out and "Gorbachev" inked in.

"The New Russians" came ten years after "The Russians," and the Russian world had changed utterly in that decade. Ten years after "The New Russians" was published, the outlook for and course of the New Russia has altered radically from what Smith foresaw in 1991, and -- sadly -- not for the better.

An adolescent mash note to the last Soviet dictator when it was published, "The New Russians" is now a period piece. Read it for Smith's anecdotes and style, but look elsewhere for insight on the real New Russia.

A very detailed account of Russia's govt
I read this book for a college history class. I liked it and I learned a great deal from it. It was long which made it tedious for me at times. But my professor told me that in light of all that has gone on in Russia, this was short. He said for an accurate account, it couldn't be much shorter. So I plowed through it and now I know so much about Russia. It's a very informative book if you have the time and will to read it. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand Russia today!

This book details why the Soviet Union collapsed
This book shows from an individual's point of view, why the Soviet Union collapsed so quickly and completely. Who was Gorbechev and where did he come from. How did the Baltic states rise up and succeed. Why are the central Asian republics in ferment and uprising. It details the horrendous consequences of failed socialism. The mass executions of Stalinism, the ecological disasters of Breshnev and the simmering discontent and disillusionment of the populace are all presented thoughfully. This was a massive undertaking and although it is slow at times, after reading this book you could apply for the US Ambassadors' position in Moscow. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union   2. General   3. Perestroæika   4. Politics - Current Events   5. Politics/International Relations   6. Soviet Union   7. Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich   

Subjects:  1. American Historical Fiction   2. Fiction   3. History   4. Leningrad (R.S.F.S.R.)   5. Non-Classifiable   6. Nonfiction - General   7. Saint Petersburg (Russia)   8. Modern fiction   

Customer Reviews (5)

First complete edition in English
Sholokhov's mighty work came out in English in the early 1950s if I recall; it may have been late 1940s. The translation was incomplete and the title was "And Quiet Flows the Don". A sequel came out under the title, "The Don flows Home to the Sea", both published by Wishart and Lawrence, a UK publisher with the courage to sponsor such works. Neither volume I now learn reflected accurately what Sholokhov wrote.
When the 1996 translation appeared, brilliantly executed and edited, I snapped it up immediately and also sent a copy to a former spouse in Europe. I read Sholokhov's first work as a teenager and still recall the inability to put the book down as well as being emotionally shocked at several sections of the narrative.
I came across this page in seeking any book by Professor Murphy since he has written extensively on the Cossacks and Sholokhov; re-reading the book raises my curiosity to learn more about that region of the former USSR and its inhabitants. I take the opportunity to recommend a rattling good read that provides an inside view of life in the pre-revolutionary Don basin and a rather well balanced view of the revolution and the civil war. Yes, yes, the hero Stokman is a little too upright and heroic as a communist and yes, the kulak/capitalist Molkhov a little too villainous... but these were small pecadillos when the book was written. If the model of Stokman was intended to inspire readers, they could have had far worse models!
The work did not earn the author the Nobel literature prize for nothing!

Schlock
Awful commie propaganda. Slanderous portraits of Liberals and of the Whites in the civil war. Wafer-thin characters all around, from decadent blood-sucking nobles to gooey warm camaraderie amongst their "class enemies." Read Tolstoy instead. Life is too short.

The epic story of the Cossacks in a Nobel winning novel
Certainly a masterpiece, spellbinding for 1300 pp., I happened on this amazing book as a remainder at The Strand in New York. Difficulty keeping the generals apart and whose side they were on, but a captivating story that has led me to learn to read and write Russian with hopes of living there/studying there. I had been a fan of Russian poetry for a while, esp Ahkmatova, but this is really simply an unbelievable story. Would be interested in reading more about World War I and this part of the world. Read The Guns of August and now need to read the equivalent for this area. Your suggestions are encouraged. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Makes you appreciate the U.S. Constitution all the more
Clear and compelling indictment of the most inhuman social system devised by humans. This account of the Soviet Union's history illustrates the danger of a one party system and the inhumanity of big government. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union   2. History - General History   

Subjects:  1. 1931-   2. Biography   3. Biography & Autobiography   4. Biography / Autobiography   5. Biography/Autobiography   6. Cherniaev, A. S   7. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union   8. Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich,   9. Historical - General   10. Political   11. Political History   12. Russia - History - 1917 To 1991   13. Soviet Union   14. Statesmen   15. Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich   

Subjects:  1. Art   2. Art & Art Instruction   3. Individual Artist   

Subjects:  1. Geometry - Differential   2. Mathematics