The Britannica Guide to Russia:
The Essential Guide to the nation, its people, and culture
If I am going to Russia
, I better know something more about the land. Travel guides for its cities are rare and expensive, but my wife found this "Russia" book. Calling itself "The Essential Guide" is a bit of a mistake -- perhaps "The mini-Exhaustive Guide" might have been better.
I read about 2/3 of the book, especially all the history sections. The earliest reference to this land is Kievan Rus (from which we get "Rusland" or "Russia) up around Kiev in the time of AD 900-1237. The Mongols came along, who crushed the area as Mongols did back then, and set up a new capital in Muscovy (Moscow). 1537 began the era of tsars, followed by that 70-year unpleasantness when communists mistakenly figured they understood economics better than "evil" capitalists. Now it's taking a lot of effort to reverse 70 years of error.
As a promotion for Encyclopedia Britannica this book is a terrible advertisement. There are precisely two maps + a few black-white photos stuffed in the center. Come to think of it, that's not too different from the set my dad bought in the 1950s.
How should one read about remarkable paintings and architecture when there are no images? In one part, the unnamed authors spend tedious pages describing the people groups and geology of the largest country in the world -- without the visual aid of maps.
I did appreciate the 2/3s I read, and even more appreciated that I paid just 1/3 of the cover price.
Published in 2009 by Constable & Robbins.
xviii + 333 pp.
ISBN 978-0-7624-3621-7
This book is available from Amazon.com: The Britannica Guide to Russia
The Essential Guide to the nation, its people, and culture
If I am going to Russia
I read about 2/3 of the book, especially all the history sections. The earliest reference to this land is Kievan Rus (from which we get "Rusland" or "Russia) up around Kiev in the time of AD 900-1237. The Mongols came along, who crushed the area as Mongols did back then, and set up a new capital in Muscovy (Moscow). 1537 began the era of tsars, followed by that 70-year unpleasantness when communists mistakenly figured they understood economics better than "evil" capitalists. Now it's taking a lot of effort to reverse 70 years of error.
As a promotion for Encyclopedia Britannica this book is a terrible advertisement. There are precisely two maps + a few black-white photos stuffed in the center. Come to think of it, that's not too different from the set my dad bought in the 1950s.
How should one read about remarkable paintings and architecture when there are no images? In one part, the unnamed authors spend tedious pages describing the people groups and geology of the largest country in the world -- without the visual aid of maps.
I did appreciate the 2/3s I read, and even more appreciated that I paid just 1/3 of the cover price.
Published in 2009 by Constable & Robbins.
xviii + 333 pp.
ISBN 978-0-7624-3621-7
This book is available from Amazon.com: The Britannica Guide to Russia
How about leaving the politics out of an otherwise essential read for CAD matters?
[The editor replies: "This blog covers any topic I choose. Consider having your own blog where topics can be banned."]
Posted by: DF | Aug 09, 2009 at 02:47 PM