An interesting look at Russia from 1803-1808. Martha and Catherine Wilmot, two English ladies, went at various points to stay with Princess Dashkova (a friend of Catherine the Great) and this book is composed of their journals and letters home. Their letters provide a fascinating look at Russia, particularly the habits of the Russian nobility, during the reign of Tsar Alexander I. Both women were skilled writers, with an eye for the interesting anecdote, and spared no detail for the folks back home. They write about the price of sturgeon, the travails of a homesick maid, the conquests they made at a ball, and the Tsar's wife ("the loveliest creature I almost ever saw"). A very interesting book, and a pleasure to read.

As a professor of Judaic Studies with a keen interest in Ethnography and Israel, I thought this book, which fell into my lap, or rather through my mailbox at my university, would be of interest. I found Susan Kahn is that genre of writer I abhor: arrogant, know-it-all, and so married to erudition that she has no voice. I can't imagine how anyone, with or without my interests in kinship and Israel, would possibly make it all the way through this book. I did so, and much to my dismay. Do yourself a favor and don't go burrow into this tome. It is unrewarding; a sad statement about this "experts" utter lack of a humane voice in her work. Whatever her talents, writing well is not among them.

Great topic, well researched and well written. Sometimes funny. I learned a great deal about the details of the topic. Moreover, the book informs the political issues and climate of statehood for a fledgling nation at the most personal and intimate levels. I've read the other reader's review and can't imagine that the vituperative commentary is in any way suggested by the topic or the book itself. Perhaps a little New Haven vs. Cambridge rivalry. Hey, grow up! If you are a reader with an interest in how Jewish motherhood and Jewish statehood relate, read the book. If you are a kvetch, have some chicken soup and you'll feel better in the morning.

It's no wonder that this book won the National Jewish Book Award this year. Kahn zeroes in on a much neglected area -- the lives of women in Israel-- and a subject -- infertility policy -- of interest not only to medical anthropologists and other scholarly researchers but to interested would-be parents and their friends and families around the world. In exploring Israel's public policy on reproduction and the way Israeli women go about utilizing it, Kahn has written a fascinating, provocative, and rewarding book.