One piece of advice before you sit down with a Dovlatov book: make sure you have enough time to finish it before you do anything else. "Chemodan," also known as The Suitcase in English translation, is a charming novel, masked as a short story collection... As the protagonist goes through the old suitcase, brought to America from the "old country," each item brings forth a story. The book is full of wit, absurd situations.. in other words, just the right amount of insanity to make one tackle everyday life better.

David Bordwell, Professor of Film Studies at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, has produced as complete and insightful a guide to the cinemagraphic artistry of Sergei Eisenstein as any film lover could hope for. In addition to covering the director's life and "rehabilitation" to rightful prominence years after his death, Dr. Bordwell spends measured time dissecting and describing Eisenstein's theories of montage and "Social Realist" cinema in a most understandable and fluent way. For anyone who has marveled at the dramatic power of the "Odessa Steps" sequence in "The Battleship Potempkin" or the heroic sweep of "Alexander Nevsky," this book will take you behind the scenes and reveal how these masterworks were made, and why. Very readable, and filled with hundreds of illustrations from films both completed and unmade, "The Cinema of Eisenstein" will satisfy the serious movie-goer and the student of Soviet cultural history. A compendious bibliography and suggested reading list is included. Comrades, get this book!

A somewhat carefully made edition, with texts in russian and translated to english and french. Rachmaninoff's songs are of unsurpassed beauty and richness; This "lieds" recquires special skills for the performers; the piano parts are not mere accompanyments, but complex and and difficult in essence. The problem is, although the title of this book says "complete", it is not: some songs, which don't have specific opus numbers, are not in this compilation. The maximum rate is given only because it's... Rachmaninoff.

Although this book is offered as a portrait of a young Russian terrorist who eventually became a beloved professor of mathematics at the University of South Dakota, it is also an invaluable look into the minds of terrorists.

Russia, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, consisted of a newly educated commercial and industrial class that was rising in wealth and power -- perhaps 10 percent of the population. The other 90 percent were peasants, totally dedicated to the monarchy with an absolute trust the Czar would solve all of their problems.

The self-made newly rich, frustrated by the status quo, wanted revolutionary change that would make everyone rich. Sergei Degaev, the son of a doctor, was frustrated by the lack of social progress in Russia. Pipes explains, "When life offers little so that the results of ideological work are not yet evident, the activist wants to see some concrete, palpable manifestation of his will, his power."

If it sounds familiar, think of the well-educated middle class Palestinian youth who volunteer to be suicide bombers, plus the support they receive from other Palestinians. Pipes cites similar attitudes in Russia in the 1880's. Terror was born as the original "shock and awe" campaign; assassinate the Czar, and Russia would rise up in glorious revolt that would bring democracy, justice and prosperity for all.

Pipes writes, "For some dimly understood reason, in modern societies from time to time, a sizable body of the young is seized by an overpowering destructive urge which, at the same time, exhibits self-destructive symptoms."

Degaev became part of a terrorist network dedicated to changing the entire social structure and attitudes of Russia by means of a few assassinations. Terrorists killed Czar Alexander II in 1881. But when US President James Garfield was assassinated the same year, Degaev's group wrote to Americans, "In a country where individual freedom offers opportunities for honest ideological struggle, where the free will of the nation determines not only the law but also the personality of those who govern -- in such a country, political assassination as a means of struggle is a manifestation of the same despotic spirit, the destruction of which in Russia is our goal . . . . . violence is justified only when it is directed against violence."

Keep in mind the vast social changes the world was seeing in the second half of the nineteenth century through industrialization and global trade; America fought a bloody civil war pitting the new industrialism against the old slave-owning mentality. For many, whether in America with the new industrialization or in Russia with the overthrow of the Czar, the future held unlimited promise and opportunities.

It's hardly new. Eric Hoffer in 'The True Believer' illustrates the rage of those who expect instant utopia and will blindly follow anyone who promises fulfillment. Pipes explains that ". . . since in our imperfect world there are always matters that can be improved, 'causes' can always be found to justify the urge to destroy and murder."

Degaev helped kill the head of the Czar's secret police. Then, he fled to America where, in a society that offered him unlimited opportunity, he became a model citizen. If you can understand Degaev, and Pipes offers an extraordinary study of his character that will fascinate anyone, you will get an insight into the mind of a terrorist.

After Sept. 11, 2001, Americans asked, "Why do they hate us?" Pipes never addresses that issue directly, but by looking into the motives of Degaev, he suggests the underlying target of terrorist hatred is their own limitations and powerlessness. If people feel limited in their opportunities, terrorism is one response.

Pipes doesn't address the issues of Sept. 11, 2001; nor of protecting our society from terrorism. It's not the purpose of his book. Instead, he looks at the "Why" of terrorism and suggests answers that also explain recent events.

It's a superb book for people who like to think for themselves.

Ronald Bergan shows that although Eisenstein was committed to the Bolshevik cause and contributed to its development, his films must, in no way, simply be dismissed as propaganda. Eisenstein pioneering visual techniques, explorations in montage and lyrical representations have earned him an indisputable position as among film makers.
The culminating scenes in 'Strike!', for instance, are built on an alternating sequence of shots that show soldiers chasing and shooting the strikers while a butcher is slitting the throat of farm animals in the slaughterhouse. This allegorical interpretation of the Czar as a butcher wa not fully understood by a large portion of the viewing public, as Eisenstein himself witnessed when the film was shown in the rural areas throughout the country. Indeed, many farmers were unable to grasp the metaphor of the slaughtered beasts as an association of the Czar as a criminal, a butcher, a murderer of innocents because for farmers the killing of an animal did not constitute a crime.

The rally to arms in 'Alexander Nevsky' culminated in the battle on ice scene (which runs for almost a third of the film). The scene, which Eisenstein duly prepared with the aid of sketches, appears as if inspired by the paintings of the Italian renaissance artist P. Uccello, as both show the violent clash of armor, horses, arrows, spears and iron.

Have we met before? After the first two pages Sergej Dovlatov becomes your best friend, and it hurts to say good-bye at the end of the book... His books are witty (though, it IS black humour at times), intellegent and full of charm. But he`s dangerous: if you start reading the book you risk to neglect your daily business. Get this book, if you can, reading it is like talking to a good friend. And he`s so charming...

Fr. Bulgakov has given us a amazing study of the meaning of the Holy Eucharist. Not just an analysis, but even a contemplative dive into the depths of the Divine Mystery.

He desribes how the Eucharist is not 'transsubstantiation' but rather 'transmutation'; which is a union of the Eucharistsic matter with the glorified Body and Blood of our Lord. Thereby rescuing Orthodox theology from the temptation to adopt the Latin scholastic understanding. He clearly points out some serious weaknessess in the scholastic theory, and replaces it with a thoroughly Biblical and Patristic explanation.

In the Introduction, Fr. Robert Slesinski, a Uniate priest, attempts to take away some of the impact of Bulgakov's criticisms on the eucharistic theology of the Latin Church and of Protestantism. Saying he judges too quickly. Well, Bulgakov did not have critique of them in mind, he had an Orthodox exposition in mind, and in the process gives some pointers to weaknessess in Latin and Protestant understanding. In an in depth analysis of the Latin and Protestant points of view, one would indeed expect a more throrough and precise criticism. But such is not the focus of this book. And Fr. Slesinski's criticism and defense of the Latin pov does not really fit this book very well. It could very well have done without it (the five stars are for Fr. Bulgakov, not Fr. Slesinski).

Fr. Bulgakov also points out that the blood and water, supposedly caught in the Holy Grail by Joseph of Arimathea do not have a eucharistic significance. For the glorified Body and Blood (which is part of Christ's resurrected Body) are of eucharistic significance. Rather it points out that the Presence of Christ remains in this world. The Body and Blood are not deprived by the Spirit of Christ, but this Spirit remains attached to it. Connecting all the world (symbolized by the Holy Grail) to God. His salvific Blood remains active in the world.

Bulgakov is aware of the legendary character of the Grail-myth, and its actual existence does not really matter. What matters is the way the Grail-legend can be used to explain the remaining presence of Christ in the world after He leaves it in the Ascension. Thanx to the Blood and water that flowed from Christ's side He does not abandon the world in the Acension, but like the Holy Grail the world receives the Salvific Blood and Water in itself. On the Cross, as Christ's side is pierced by the roman spear, the final stage of redemption is completed. And this redemption is now followed by the glorification of the cosmos. The whole cosmos will be changed in order to allow God to be all in all. Bulgakov points to the eschatological significance of the piercing of Christ's side, by explaining what its place is in the process wherein heaven comes down to earth, and the earth ascends to heaven.

On the Cross, says Bulgakov, Christ's humanity (symbolized by water and blood) is divided, and spread into the world. But in the Second Coming His body is fully re-united and this means that the earth is united to heaven and heaven to earth. Like the humanity of Christ is restored to unity and life, likewise will the earth be restored to unity and life.

The last chapter deals with the Eucharist as it is interpreted according to Bulgakov's understanding of sophiology. It is the most difficult part of the book. But the insights are truly astounding. The significance of Divine Sophia and created Sophia, concerning the Holy Eucharist opens a path whereupon the truth of st. Paul's words beget their strongest hearing: 'For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring (Acts 17, 28).'

This is not s just a systematic theological treatise, it is also a meditation, a contemplative and experiental approach of the Mystery of the Eucharist, and the Passion of Christ; leading the reader to a deeper understanding of Orthodox Christianity, and a deeper experience of Christ in the life of the Orthodox Church.

This is one of the most incredible books about the spirit and life of russain explorers I ever read. It is passionate tribute to russian soul, true russian patriotism and great spirit of early explorers of Alaska. This book influenced the choice of my profession - geology and I am glad to recommend it to wide variety of readers. ...

Nikita S. Khrushchev was perhaps the most interesting leader the Soviet Union ever had, and was certainly one of the most intriging characters of the 20th century. A strange mix of the wise and the foolish, he tried, but could not significantly change, the U.S.S.R. for the better. In some ways, Gorbachev was the "Khrushchev" of this time, and not the other way around.

I read this book in grad school and could not put it down. As the son of, as the Americans called him, 'Mr. K,' Sergei Khrushchev had a special perspective on this man and his time, and this is a must-read for anyone interested in the subject. The younger Krushchev certainly loved his father, and it shows in the book sometimes to access, but by and large the account is objective.

There are several touching and personal passages in the book, too numerous to mention here. I was particularly taken with the episode in which the younger Krushchev found out about the coup that was about to overtake his father and warned him that (rough transcription): "X is setting up a coup against you." He then got the shock of his life when his father came home from the Politburo the next day ranting (rough transcription again): "You silly boy! I just spoke to X today. He says there's no coup going on!" Classic Nikita S. Khrushchev.

Sergei N. Khrushchev has succeeded in producing a sensitive, illuminating account of a special time in our world. The book is an easy and concise read, yet the reader will come out with a very deep understanding of so many of the people and forces that shaped that time. This is what good reading is supposed to be. Bravo!

_Mapping European Security After Kosovo_is a collection of ten essays by Scandinavian, German, and British scholars about the ways in which the conflict in Kosovo has shaped post-Cold War European security. The preliminary two chapters provide an overview of the Kosovo conflict, placing it in the context of globalization. Peter Van Ham (Netherlands Institute of International Relations "Clingendael") argues that, by not accepting the rationales of European integration and European security, Milosevic's Serbia "posed itself as the main challenge to the emerging new European order (NEO), and, by ignoring the logic of NEO realism, raised the key question that European policy makers and theorists have tried to ignore: on what stable foundations can European security be constructed?" (p. 6). He concludes that Kosovo has been 'both the pretext and ultimate context in which the contemporary reading of 'European security' is taking place. Chapters three, four, and five then probe Kosovo's impact on the idea of war itself. Was NATO's involvement all-out war, a military intervention, or merely an "air operation? asks Pertti Joenniemi of the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (p. 6). To describe NATO's bombing as "war" - at least from a NATO perspective - would be a "misnomer" and would even "undermine NATO's effort to construct itself as a new transatlantic community," he states (p.60). Joenniemi concludes that, in Kosovo, war has "transcended its modern meaning without becoming an integral part of the new and incoming, and without altogether leaving behind the old ideas of war (p. 63). In the next chapter, Iver Neumann (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Oslo) explores the concept of legitimacy in war, namely who can wage war, by which means, and over which issues. NATO was able to "pose as the representative of humanity," he avers, because "liberal globalization is left as the only political program with any global appeal" (p. 7). In the following chapter "Kosovo and the End of the United Nations?" Heikki Patomaki (Nottingham Trent University, England) takes a pessimistic view. He believes that the "domestication" of the UN by the United States has "severely damaged" both the moral basis of UN pluralism and the legal procedures and rules on which the UN has been based. A product of the "Hegelian fallacy of identifying success with being right," the US elite might not "learn to listen to others" until it suffers a major economic collapse, he posits (p. 97). In contrast to the chapters by Joenniemi, Neumann, and Patomaki, which view Kosovo as a product of the decay of modern institutions, the next three chapters by Maja Zehfuss (University of Warwick, England), Andreas Behnke (Stockholm University), and Mika Aaltola (University of Tampere, Finland) investigate the symbolic nature of the Kosovo crisis, the "virtualization"of politics, and the language games involved in enemy creation and identity construction. Mikkel Rasmussen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) discusses the use of the concept of "civilization" to justify the bombings in Kosovo when the West realized that the campaign had only the flimsiest foundations in international law. In the final chapter, Christoph Zürcher (Free University of Berlin) shows how the Kosovo and Chechen conflicts resemble each other: both are post-socialist, post-imperialist conflicts not easily explained by realist approaches. Both conflicts were also largely influenced by domestic considerations and by the need of Russia and NATO respectively to "send messages" (p. 193).
Mapping European Security After Kosovo has many strengths. For example, it challenges traditional assumptions about war, sovereignty, and hegemony. It also provides fresh, provocative views by non-American authors. Unfortunately, it lacks an analytical summary at the end, as well as an index and bibliography. The essays largely draw on published secondary sources. Although some of the theoretical essays are too abstract for undergraduates, graduates and specialists will find this book stimulating and useful. Dr. Johanna Granville,
Stanford University