Reading Still Matters

A book I have wanted to read for some time is Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin .  It was written back in 2010, but remains one of if not the only comprehensive look at the mass atrocities committed by the Soviet Union first, and then Nazi Germany later, during the period of time between the early 1920s to the late 1940s.  Check it out on Amazon here:  https://amzn.to/4uvDdxj Bloodlands does a great job of putting this period into a single, unified history that shows how both the Soviets and the Germans operated independently, in coordination, and in response to each other’s actions in terms of the repression of minorities and perceived enemies.   Basically, the title refers to a specific geographic region in Central and Eastern Europe that lies east of Berlin but west of Moscow.   The main focus was on the Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and the western areas of Russia. These were the ...

Antony Beevor's Russia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917-1921 is a dramatic survey of one of the most shocking and brutal events of the 20th century - the collapse of the Tsarist autocracy and its replacement by violent zealots determined to reshape the world.     Buy it on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/4vDjvka Who is Antony Beevor? Antony Beevor is an internationally renowned and sometimes controversial British military historian who has written a number of books, including Stalingrad, The Fall of Berlin, and The Battle for Spain, among a number of others.   Interestingly, Beevor had been a tank commander in the British army before deciding to leave and write full-time. In some countries where his work has been published, his books have generated considerable controversy and even bans. For example, both Russians and Ukrainians took exception to his portrayal of their respective military's actions during the battle of Stalingrad. There was much discussion of the bru...

Interest in Russia briefly waned after the fall of the Soviet Union, but newly aggressive Russia under Vladimir Put has revived interest in Russia.   If you are looking for some solid history recommendations to give you a better sense to the history of modern Russia, check out the selections below. A History of Twentieth-Century Russia by Robert Service      In A History of Twentieth-Century Russia, Service provides a comprehensive, single-volume narrative history that covers the tumultuous period from the final years of Tsar Nicholas II through the collapse of the Soviet Union.      It is widely regarded as a useful reference and an accessible introduction for general readers, incorporating material from previously closed Soviet archives. This book remains a great place to start for understanding Russia's twentieth century and a better understanding of the system that produced the likes of Vladimir Putin.      Service constructs...