Many years after its first publication, Paul Avrich's "Kronstadt, 1921" remains one of the best books written about one of the most important events of the Russian Revolution. The book is a detailed history of the Kronstadt 'mutiny' of March 1921, in which many see the seeds of Stalin's future dictatorship.

Basically, what happened is this: following a wave of strikes and discontent in Russia caused by the repressive methods of "War Communism," the sailors at the Kronstadt naval base in the Baltic Sea published a document proposing the deconstruction of the Bolshevik Party's single-Party Dictatorship (if not necessarily the Party itself). The Bolsheviks responded by attacking the base and executing those behind this 'mutiny.' Since 1921, there has been a continuing debate between Leninists and anarchists/libertarian socialists as to whether this constituted a betrayal of the principles of socialism and the ideals of the Russian Revolution.

The Leninists claim that the Kronstadters were mutineers who needed to be "crushed by the iron hand of the proletariat." The anarchists and libertarian socialists hold that it was the Bolshevik Party itself that betrayed the Revolution and laid the base of Stalin's purges, gulags, and authoritarian dictatorship by attacking the base Leon Trotsky had once called "the Pride and Glory of the Russian Revolution."

As a result of this lasting antagonism, most histories of the uprising tend to be slanted in favor of one side or the other - but Paul Avrich here makes an attempt to cut through the partisan wrangling and establish the factual history of the base once and for all. He reaches the conclusion that the Bolsheviks reacted to Kronstadt's challenge to their authority with unnecessary intransigence and brutality, but does mention the pressures of the Russian Civil War of 1918 - 1920 to help explain their actions. Mr. Avrich also rips apart much of the official propaganda surrounding the myth of Kronstadt (for example, that the mutiny was organized and led by a Tsarist General).

"Kronstadt, 1921" is a well-written account of one of the most important and interesting events in the history of the Russian Revolution and the formation of the Stalinist Soviet Union. Recommended reading for anyone interested in Russia or its history. Five stars.

_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

I've just been handed a copy of this wonderful book, and although I haven't read it yet, just flipping through it and looking at the photographic plates is sufficient proof that this is an exceptional book. Every page shows reproductions of wonderful painters from Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia who are completely unknown here in the United States. It's hard to imagine that the story of modern art can be told without reference to these artists, and yet it has until now. Clearly a labor of love and many years in the making, this book is a must read for anyone who truly wants to learn something new about art and have their eyes opened both literally and figuratively.

Detailed and focussed on the Volga countryside of Russia, 1917-.
If Trotsky and Lenin suceeded in mounting a succesful revolution, why did they succeed in overcoming all opposition and securing the Soviet State?
Through a detailed analysis of the tensions and pressures that ensue. A little narrow in focus for the first-time reader, it would be difficult to get hold of the fdetails firmly. The general reader in depth should try instead People's Tragedy by the same author. This retains the same readabilityy, but you need to be able to place in context some of the developments in the village and their correspondence with events in the Civil War to get all you can out of it.

Something most British BA students of history will want by them when writing essays to give unreproachable quotable stuff, and MA students in the area will want to have opinions upon.

The best Easter European cook book!

I was fortunate enought to read this book while taking a class taught by the author, Dr. Peter Sugar, at the Unversity of Washington in 1983. This is not light reading, but will be engrossing to those to whom History is a passion. I would also recommend any of Dr. Sugar's books regarding the History of Eastern Europe and the Balkan States (Dr. Sugar is a Bosnian, raised in Hungary who came to the United States at about the time of WWII, as I recall) as the author's insights and clarity are superb!!

I have over 60 books on Russia and St. Petersburg, and this is one of my favorites. Steve Ramer is a National Geographic photojournalist who spent considerable time in St. Petersburg during a period of great change. The book is beautifully illustrated with an easy to read informative text. Ramer shows everything from the palaces and opera houses to ordinary people on ordinary streets. Having been to St. Petersburg twice, I can appreciate the honesty of his images. This is a great coffee table style book. In his epilogue to the book, Ramer states that he took 26 rolls of film to make the book. The images he selcted for the book are very good. I only wish I could see the rest of his photos. If you are looking for this book and are unable to find a copy, you may want to look through old National Geographic magazines from the early 1990's for Ramer's article on St. Petersburg. Of course, if you do, you'll only have a greater desire to find the book.

This well-written book vividly illustrates the various aspects of urban life in Saint Petersburg before World War I. The photographs are stunning. They help the reader see the great contrasts between the various classes of Petersburg's people. While one might enjoy the fine views of the city's palaces and pictures of the Tsars and other members of the upper classes, the vivid pictures of the city's flophouses (dross houses) remind the reader of the hideous gap between the rich and the poor classes. This book is a must read for history buffs who want to see what life was like in pre-World War I Russia. It is entirely suitable for the family--the pictures will surely grab the attention of school-age children, while the older readers will enjoy the highly readable texts which accompany the photographs. The last photograph in this book is quite poignant. It shows Tsar Nicholas II at the balcony of his palace at the start of Russia's participation in World War I. One can tell, from Nicholas' face, that his decision to participate in that war would be, in the end, a fatal one. World War I would help hasten the end of the Russian monarchy and the coming of the Soviet regime.

In his many historical works on the medieval history of the Eastern Baltic region, William Urban has set a very high standard of historical excellence. Tannenberg and After pushes the standard to new heights, not only within the area of medieval Baltic History, but in how a historical account should be presented. Throughout the book Urban paints a picture of the times through the eyes of the various participants. His approach provides the reader with as accurate an account as is available in the English language. He also strives to dispel the myths promoted by earlier historians that presented the topic from a nationalistic bias.

Overall I found the book to be truly fascinating, well written and a remarkable scholarly accomplishment from a World Class Historian.

For a great intellectual like Noam Chomsky, this is a dissappointing and terribly misleading work. While he might make a few plausible arguments against the bombing campaign (ie. double standard concerning Kurds, East Timor etc.), he gives little background to the entire conflict in the Balkans. As one reviewer put it, he manages to completely leave out important events in places like Sarajevo or Vukovar. Perhaps that might be justified since Chomsky only meant to focus on US involvement in this specific instance, but it can be very misleading to the average reader.

While he might give excellent analysis on other subject areas such as the Mideast or Media and Propaganda, sadly the Balkans seem to be where he lacks in knowledge. As I have mentioned earlier, he makes a few good points, but on the whole his argument against intervention and his background on the Balkan conflict are very poor. This book displays the failure of the left to truly understand the Balkan conflict. It seems their main concern is American hegemony in the world (which is no doubt a serious issue) and they have bent and shaped a history of the Balkans so it may fit the party line.

If you want a good analysis of this conflict, then don't read this book.

With this analysis of the NATO bombings on Kosovo, Noam Chomsky questions the new humanism, which seems to currently characterize the political action in the Western countries. So, is this humanism guided by power interests or by real humanitarian preoccupations? Is recourse to force inspired by concrete principles and values, or are we facing the usual and narrow-minded hypocrisy of the potents? Via a detailed examination of historical and diplomatic events, and using his incisive and pungent style, Chomsky considers all the particulars of the Kosovo situation, in order to unmask the rhetorical affirmations according to which the United States and their allies would be fighting to create and defend a world where there would no longer be space for ethnic purging, genocides and dictatorships. Whom do we believe?

I'll begin by disclosing a personal interest: Prof. Chomsky and I have the same publisher, and I had the honor of voicing the book-on-tape version of this book. But facts are facts, verifiable whatever the source, and the information presented here is well-researched, largely unpublicized, and deeply disturbing.

The mass media's consistent parroting of NATO's shifting versions of the causes and purposes of the war, and their Orwellian convenient forgetting of their own earlier reports as need be, are chronicled in detail. The Balkan war is placed in the context of ongoing US, UK, and NATO policies in other parts of the world (Turkey, for example) to devastating effect. And the final chapters, detailing the reasons for the ongoing expansion of military force and flouting of international law -- and how current NATO policies are actually making the world a more dangerous place -- left me chilled while doing the reading.

This is terrific, important work. I was honored to be associated with it, and I recommend it in the strongest terms.