Reddit mentions: The best historical russia biographies

There's a lot of wrong information in this thread. First, the KGB was not superior to western spies during the cold war. Both had some great success and failures. The KGB's biggest examples would be stuff like Robert Hanssen, Aldrich Ames, or the Cambridge Spy Ring. The US and UK also had many notable successes. Unfortunately I am at work right now and can't remember specific names or spellings (I am horrible with Russian names). The KGB never succeeded in penetrating any US intelligence agency but they did have success recruiting persons already in US intelligence. The same is true of the US in regards to Soviet intelligence. There was a lot of paranoia by both sides when it came to trying to recruit spies from within the respective enemy. Aldrich Ames was originally turned away by the Soviets be cause they thought he was a trap.

Here are some great books on the subject:

[The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB] (http://www.amazon.com/Main-Enemy-Inside-Story-Showdown-ebook/dp/B000QCS8Y2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394466382&sr=1-1&keywords=the+main+enemy) is a book by Milt Bearden, a former CIA case officer and one time head of the Soviet desk at the CIA. It covers the CIA and KGB shadow war during the 80s and 90s and is told from Bearden's perspective as a mid level and high ranking CIA officer during that time period. This book also covers the CIA activity in Afghanistan from 1985-89 when Bearden was in charge of CIA operations there.

[Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer: The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames] (http://www.amazon.com/Spy-Handler-Officer-Recruited-Hanssen-ebook/dp/B0095XKFZ8/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394466382&sr=1-12&keywords=the+main+enemy) by Victor Cherkashin is exactly what the tile says. It is a book told from a KGB officer's perspective about the recruting and running of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen. I highly recommend reading this book after reading the book by Bearden. They compliment each other well and together provide a pretty comprehensive overview of the spy war part of the Cold War.

For a more historical look at spies and intelligence operations during the entire 20th century, including the cold war I recommend reading A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century by Jeffrey Richelson. This book covers all major intelligence programs and operations from all disciplines not just HUMINT, though.

HUMINT is the abbreviation for Human Intelligence which includes spy craft and is one of the largest disciplines in intelligence. The other disciplines are Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), Measures and Signal Intelligence (MASINT), Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), and Counter Intelligence (CI).

EDIT-Fixed link formatting

Autobiographies? No, I'm not a fan.

But biographies? Yes, I have some recommendations.

First would be Anthony Everitt's excellent bio of Cicero. If you are at all interested in the history of Ancient Rome, then this book is for you. Everitt has followed this up with equally engaging biographies of Augustus and Hadrian.

Robert K Massie won the Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Peter the Great. It is, quite simply, superb. Not only was this giant of a man (both literally and figuratively) an interesting individual, but his story provides a fascinating insight into the emergence of modern Russia and the geopolitics of 17th century Europe. Sounds boring? You will be amazed. A wonderful book.

Christopher Hibbert was one of Britain's best loved popular historians. He wrote many many biographies (amongst other very readable narrative histories), but two of my favourites are Victoria - A Personal History and The Destruction of Lord Raglan.

Finally, something a little different. Young Romantics (available as a paperback from UK Amazon) is best described as a "group biography" and focuses on the famous Romantic poets, the Shellys, Byron and Keats. What a once in a millenium combination of tragic genius! A book that couldn't sound more prosaic at first, but once you start reading! Wonderful stuff.

You don't need to know Russian history to love and learn from Dostoevsky.

I agree that the Pevear and Volokhonsky translations are the best.

If you do want to read Russian history I recommend:

The Icon and the Axe is truly foundational, you have to read this book if you want to understand Russia and join the conversation about Russian history

Massie's biography of Peter the Great is one of the best books I've ever read. Reads like a novel, amazing story of Russia's move from a medieval/dark ages mentality to an enlightenment/scientific mindset. His bio of Catherine is also good--but his Peter is a classic across disciplines.

This is the best recent biography of Stalin.

Happy reading. Russian history is a hole you go into and don't easily come out. So much there, so interesting, so horrifying, so engrossing. American history is all about optimism (from the the non-native perspective). Russian history is all about suffering--from every perspective.

> Things like going to protests/marches - are they at all effective?

Very much so. Protests at airports all over the country have led to an emergency halt on Trump's immigration ban.

Moreover, consistent protests -- especially ones explicitly calling for inclusion unlike the Obama protests -- sends a clear message to the world. Continue to exercise your constitutional rights for as long as you are able.

> But what else can we do to influence policy that's being made on the national level?

Last year, there were studies and reports talking about how Millennials aren't interested in running for office for a bunch of reasons.

After Trump's election, it looks like things might change. Run For Something announced that they are grooming 1,200 Millennials to run for office. Even scientists are running for office because the Trump administration rejects climate change and is gutting environmentalist programs.

Check if any of these new politicians are running for office in your distrct. Rally behind public servants that run to establish a smarter, more compassionate nation. Work on their campaign trails if you can. Remember, we don't vote for the president -- we vote in the people that do.

Fight gerrymandering. FairVote is one such organization that addresses it on a national level.


> What's most effective and efficient? How can we make a difference as individuals?

Just be a good person. I hate the idea that your job and your activism is what determines your moral worth. People assume that the social worker at charity:water is a "better person" than the guy on Wall Street.

I think how you live your life is far more important than what you do with it. Whatever job you have, do it with integrity and do it well. If you're in a position of power, strive to create a compassionate environment and hire diversely. Follow through with all your promises, even small ones like hanging out with your friends. Show up early to everything early.

In short, be good at the little things, because ultimately, those are the things that matter. Marches and rallies are important but they don't convince anyone who doesn't already agree with you (the purpose of those events is to raise awareness and sustain morale) and they don't happen very often. A march only takes up a few hours of your day, half a day at most.

In contrast, building your character takes an entire lifetime. You are bombarded with opportunities to be a kinder, more dependable person everyday.

And when you're known as someone who never flakes out, who is kind to everyone, and who is always on time, the people in your life will respect you. So the next time you advocate a cause, people will listen. The next time you show up at a march, people will see.

And finally, read up on history. There is nothing new under the sun. Opportunists and bad leaders like Trump have existed all throughout history.

Read about how journalists covered the rises of Hitler and Mussolini. Read up on Berlusconi. Read up on how Golden Dawn continues to seize power in Greece. Read about how Putin went from being your run-of-the-mill pragmatic kleptocrat to an ultranationalist demagogue. Read about the journalists that covered Putin's regime.

Wisdom is learning from those who came before you. Of course, those situations are not 1:1 with ours, but they're a map and a compass. They provide some context to what we're going through so we can adapt and move forward.

I read a really good book on this subject called Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer, and I certainly recommend it. It was written by the KGB officer who ran Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen, two of the most important spies the soviets ever had in the US.

For those unfamiliar, Aldrich Ames was a CIA officer who sold the identity of western sources (spies for the US) to the KGB for cash.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said:
>Ames admitted that he had compromised "virtually all Soviet agents of the CIA and other American and foreign services known to me" and had provided the USSR and Russia with a "huge quantity of information on United States foreign, defense and security policies". It is estimated that information Ames provided to the Soviets led to the compromise of at least a hundred U.S. intelligence operations and to the execution of at least ten U.S. sources.

Robert Hanssen is the FBI agent who spent 22 years feeding secrets to the KGB. The investigation leading to his arrest is dramatized in the 2007 movie Breach.

Of particular interest in this book is the way Cherkashin talks about the recruiting game. His best spies were motivated by money (Ames) or ego (Hanssen), but he also talks about the use of sexual blackmail. At one point he uses the services of a female agent to collect incriminating photography that he then uses to blackmail the man into providing information. What I love is the way he talks about how these different sources had to be managed, requiring an understanding of human motivations and what people were willing to do. Someone you were blackmailing could only be pushed so far, after all. While he did not operate far outside of Human Intelligence (HumInt) gathering, he does talk a lot about several operations that caught US spies. A very good read!

I think Pacific Islander beyond New Zealand is really interesting. One book I enjoyed on the history of Hawaii was The Shoals of Time.

Another time to explore would be the Russian Expansion into Siberia, Kamchatka, and the Bering Expedition. My most recent favorite book that I recommend to everyone I meet is about the Bering expedition to Alaska called Where the sea breaks its back. It's a gripping story that reads like fiction and the author is incredible.

I hope this thread blows up some because I think it's a great question and I want to reap the rewards. Also please post any specific books you've enjoyed related to the New Zealand history.

TV on same level as The Americans is hard, because it's by far the best show I've seen.

But try Ozark - excellent and the actress who plays Kimmie is in it. Homeland. Deutschland 83 & Deustchland 86 (86 is basically the second season of Deutschland 83, and there will be an 89 as well). The Handmaid's Tale.

As far as books:

Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00C0ALX7M/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr= - About cooking, yes, but also about everyday life in the USSR. Very sweet.

Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003K15IE4/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr= - This book (thinly veiled fiction) is a straightforward, but absolutely devastating read about Soviet-style totalitarianism and how everyday people made accommodations to be able to live in such a society. An amazing book. I'm on the stoic side as a reader, but there is one scene in there that catches me at the back of the throat every time I think of it.

The Charm School by Nelson Demille - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000SEGDRW/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr= - Honestly, this is no great work of literature, but a spy thriller focused on a Soviet school that trains spies to be "Americans"

Two more writers of note: Anne Applebaum and Svetlana Alexievich. Both write approachable non-fiction about Russia and have multiple, amazing books to check out.

> If you knew me, you would know that I lived in many more countries and varied conditions than you did

Let me just state the same: If you knew me, you would know that I lived in many more countries and varied conditions than you did

> Anyway, there are much worse places than where you live, even in France.

One thing I know for sure is that you've never been to Russia. Otherwise you wouldn't be spouting such nonsense.

> whether you stay in Russia or decide to move to place you deem better. May be you are right, may be it does exist.

Oh, I'm not moving anywhere, I'm gonna stay here and try to change things. One good thing about Russia is that intersectionality and political correctness (in it's Western, "your-breathing-is-offensive-misogynic-and-oppressing" sense) are completely alien concepts here. And unlike their Western counterparts who glorify Marx and Lenin, the majority of our hipsters adore Ayn Rand and libertarianism.

> Here's some first class reading for you. It provides excellent background on the west.

I will read it. And since we're doing book suggestions here are mine:

https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Coming-Vladimir-Enemies-Stopped/dp/1610397193/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Without-Face-Unlikely-Vladimir/dp/1594486514/ref=la_B001H6MBXK_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525652656&sr=1-2

https://www.amazon.com/Day-Oprichnik-Novel-Vladimir-Sorokin/dp/0374533105/ref=la_B001JOLA4G_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525652758&sr=1-1

The first two are political/historical nonfiction books, written by people who had first-hand experience with Putin's regime.

The third one is a novel, but many of the things and ideas depicted there has come/are coming to life in Russia right now, unfortunately. Orwell's 1984 and Burgess' 1985 (read it too, by the way, great book) are good descriptions of what's going on in the West and where it is headed with its leftist ideology. And this Vladimir Sorokin's book does the same for Russia.

So do me a favor and read these three books (and do check out "1985", I'll say it again - great book). And I'll read your book as soon as I finish "Journey to the End of the Night".

There is nothing like reading White Fang or Call of the Wild while in the Alaska backcountry. You start reading, and with no evidence of civilization suddenly it's 1890. Also read the short story, to build a fire.

Get a copy of a book or Robert Service poetry. You have to read the Cremation of Sam McGee at least once around a campfire (our most famous poem), it's even better if you cam manage to recite it from memory.

Here's a YouTube vid of Johnny Cache reciting it.

Here's one I read years ago where the sea breaks it's back it's the story of how captain Vitas Bearing and scientist George Stellar discovered Alaska. A truly harrowing tale.

this book is the memoirs or Dick Proenneke. He lived by himself in a cabin by a lake in remote Alaska for decades. The documentary based off of it (alone in the wilderness) is excellent but I haven't actually read the memoirs myself.

Since you're in the mountains read desperate passage this is an exceptionally well researched and written account of the Donner Party, it's chilling, I read while snow camping in the Chugach, powerful stuff.

Anther great thing to read in the wild, journals of famous adventurers. The Lewis and Clark diaries, for example.

A translation of the Poetic Edda (pretend your living in Viking times)

True Grit always an enjoyable slogging through untamed wilderness read.

Hatchet by Paulson, this book is aimed at a younger audience, but it's a good book for reading when out in the woods.

I'll second song of fire and ice, Alaska is the perfect place to read it and imagine themselves the king in the north, or wandering out beyond The Wall.

Also blood meridian is another good suggestion. Adventure in the wild lands with a big element of the unknown and sleeping under the stars. By that same token I'd recommend Dead Mans Walk by McMurtry, the fist prequel to Lonesome Dove, lots of slogging through the wilderness and mountains.

Those are all I can think of at the moment.

Also a note on into the wild, I've never read it but it a lot of people up here do not like it because it's caused a lot of people to come up and emulate the guy, some of them have died or almost died. So don't tell anything to the effect of that book being your inspiration for coming to alaska.

Must Read Bernard Goldstein's autobiographical account of the heroic Warsaw Uprising:

Five Years in the Warsaw Ghetto: The Stars Bear Witness

>Born in a small town outside of Warsaw in 1889, Bernard Goldstein joined the Jewish labor organization, the Bund, at age 16 and dedicated his life to organizing workers and resisting tyranny. Goldstein spent time in prisons from Warsaw to Siberia, took part in the Russian Revolution and was a respected organizer within the vibrant labor movement in independent Poland.

>In 1939, with the Nazi invasion of Poland and establishment of the Jewish Ghetto, Goldstein and the Bund went underground—organizing housing, food and clothing within the ghetto; communicating with the West for support; and developing a secret armed force. Smuggled out of the ghetto just before the Jewish militia’s heroic last stand, Goldstein assisted in procuring guns to aid those within the ghetto’s walls and aided in the fight to free Warsaw. After the liberation of Poland, Goldstein emigrated to America, where he penned this account of his five-and-a-half years within the Warsaw ghetto and his brave comrades who resisted to the end. His surprisingly modest and frank depiction of a community under siege at a time when the world chose not to intervene is enlightening, devastating and ultimately inspiring.

>“His active leadership before the war and his position in the Jewish underground during it qualify him as the chronicler of the last hours of Warsaw’s Jews. Out of the tortured memories of those five-and-a-half years, he has brought forth the picture with all its shadings—the good with the bad, the cowardly with the heroic, the disgraceful with the glorious. This is his valedictory, his final service to the Jews of Warsaw.”—Leonard Shatzkin

I don't remember the page, but Robert Massie talks about it in his biography of Peter the Great. Apparently he started bear hunting with a pike and sword, but decided that it wasn't fair to hunt with steel, so he switched to a wooden pitchfork like implement. Fantastic book actually, a must read if you have any interest in Russia or the late 18th century.

http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Great-Robert-K-Massie/dp/0345298063

The answer, in part, is why there are so many Russian oligarchs today. The transition away from socialist ideals occurred before the fall of the Soviet Union. In the 1980s cooperatives were begun and small private businesses began to appear, but they were new and no one really had any idea of what they were doing since the last time something like this was tried was in the 1920s under NEP. After the fall of the Soviet Union a 'privatization' period began where the government printed the equivalent of bonds or shares. Everyone in the Soviet Union received them. What they could do with them was left up to the people themselves. They could invest in newly privatized industries, cooperatives, businesses or hold on to them, sell them, etc. What happened is that those with connections in the government and previous business experience began buying up those bonds from the people and accumulating such large amounts that they could place large yet minimal bids on million dollar industries, buy them for cheap, and then reap enormous profits. Many also speculated on currency and issued the equivalent of promissory notes, acquiring companies for pennies when the ruble devalued, etc. An interesting, although journalistic account, is The Oligarchs: Wealth And Power In The New Russia.

I mean, everyone who got rich in Russia in the 90s has a lot of questions around how they did it. It was like the wild west back in those days.

There is a really good book about it called The Oligarchs that focuses on some of those men who became filthy rich after the newly capitalist 90s Russia. It's a fascinating read, highly recommended to understand early post-Soviet Russia.

Catherine the Great, of course! I just finished reading this incredible biography on her, which I can't recommend enough. She started off as a minor German princess, the pawn of her ambitious mother trying to make an advantageous political marriage, yet won the hearts of Russia and transformed it into an immensely powerful nation at the forefront of the Enlightenment. She vaulted it forward culturally, medically, politically, and scientifically. She volunteered herself for the first smallpox vaccines in Russia and strongly advocated for their use. Seriously inspiring lady. I first had my interest piqued about her when reading The Great Upheaval, which is also excellent, but you really must check out Portrait of a Woman.

I actually read the book he wrote.

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Story-Freedom-Tie/dp/1599219751

I realize that there is only so much corroboration that can be done and that the Russians have been dicks about it, but I thought it was a good book. I've travelled quite a bit in that part of the world and while that reality is far from what I experienced in the 2000s, it was still really interesting to read about how they survived. Highly recommend it.

I posted this a few weeks ago, I hope it helps!!! Its very USSR specific though :\ Sorry!

I had a craving to learn Soviet history a few years ago. These are some of the ones I found. Though its hard finding a good unbiased account in English. Since there are alot of ideological bitterness and disagreements that still hold on to this day.
I found the soviet histories written by Dmitri Volkogonov, a soviet historian and officer, to be quite good. He wrote a trilogy on Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin. Which covers alot of the early decades of the USSR.


Volkogonov also wrote Autopsy For An Empire: The Seven Leaders Who Built the Soviet Regime. Which, despite being long and dull at times, Volkogonov clearly was not a trained author. It still shines though as a good read.

I am currently reading though Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age. Which picks up soon after Stalin's death in the 50s and into the 60 and 70s. I found it to be a good inside view on the space race on both sides and the details you rarely hear about in average documentary or Western sided books on the subject.

Though I have not read it yet. Ive heard that The Soviet Experiment, by Ronald Suny, is a fantastic read and account of the Soviet Union. Hes also edited together books of essays, which I have heard is very good.

I hope this helps!!

His cover was as a translator, but per this BBC article and Masha Gessen's book on him, his job was probably pretty boring.

According to WaPo, he may have been ultimately trying to NATO secrets and Western technology. That sounds cool in theory, but idk how fun that would have been in practice, given it was Dresden in the 80s. The WaPo article also says he was probably tasked with recruiting new officers, but as I recall, Gessen's book doesn't make mention of that. In either case, those tasks would have undoubtedly involved a ton of dull work.

Though, I'll admit that while looking into his German career, it occurred to me that his St Petersburg career (in the late 70s) could have been pretty exciting, especially since his work got him selected for an elite spy school.

I've been meaning to read this book, which addresses these questions. Unfortunately, I can't find a pdf. From the book description:

>To say that history's greatest economic experiment--Soviet communism--was also its greatest economic failure is to say what many consider obvious. Here, in a startling reinterpretation, Robert Allen argues that the USSR was one of the most successful developing economies of the twentieth century. He reaches this provocative conclusion by recalculating national consumption and using economic, demographic, and computer simulation models to address the "what if" questions central to Soviet history. Moreover, by comparing Soviet performance not only with advanced but with less developed countries, he provides a meaningful context for its evaluation.

>Although the Russian economy began to develop in the late nineteenth century based on wheat exports, modern economic growth proved elusive. But growth was rapid from 1928 to the 1970s--due to successful Five Year Plans. Notwithstanding the horrors of Stalinism, the building of heavy industry accelerated growth during the 1930s and raised living standards, especially for the many peasants who moved to cities. A sudden drop in fertility due to the education of women and their employment outside the home also facilitated growth.

>While highlighting the previously underemphasized achievements of Soviet planning, Farm to Factory also shows, through methodical analysis set in fluid prose, that Stalin's worst excesses--such as the bloody collectivization of agriculture--did little to spur growth. Economic development stagnated after 1970, as vital resources were diverted to the military and as a Soviet leadership lacking in original thought pursued wasteful investments.

hmmmm... well, not much that Ive read fall under that price range. Do you like in the USA, can you use Amazon?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0786884517/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1495585796&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=pirate+biography&dpPl=1&dpID=51-foWCviEL&ref=plSrch

That one is 9-10 dollars, the story of Captain Kidd. If you dont mind used editions some of the stuff by Robert K Massie is under 5 dollars for print.

Dreadnought is about Britain and Germany gearing up do WW1

Peter the Great was one of the most famous Tsars of Russia

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/0345298063/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all

Ghenghis Khan and The Making of The Modern world was fascinating

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/0609809644/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all

The republic of Pirates was pretty interesting too

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/015603462X/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all

i linked to used books, so be aware of that - i buy almost all of my books used in "good" or "great" condition and have no complaints so far.

Hi! I agree with Lieutenant_Lukin, that Stalin is indeed a very debatable historical figure. In my experience, I never met a person who has a firm view of Stalin. Most of them tend to talk like "yeah, there were a lot of terrible things at Stalin's time, but at the same time, there were many real gooв things. So... I don't know. It's too complicated to say if he was clearly bad or clearly good"


I can recommend you to read this book if you are really interested to find out more about him.
The author tries to be impartial, that a reader can to choose independently how to feel about that.

"Сталин. Жизнь одного вождя" (Олег Хлевнюк).
If you can read in Russian you may get it here - http://flibustahezeous3.onion/b/399093

​

In English, it's titled "Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator" by Oleg V. Khlevniuk. You can get it here - https://www.amazon.com/Stalin-Biography-Dictator-Oleg-Khlevniuk/dp/0300219784

Bill Browder's book, Red Notice, is an excellent background on the Magnitsky Act. Browder's writing is super easy to read, and the topic is fascinating. I found the copy I read at a local library.

The best all round biography is this - extremely thorough and very readable, and written by the leading academic on the period. For a more 'day-to-day' view of Stalin's rule, try this, while Young Stalin pretty much does what it says on the tin. For something focused on the purges, this, is a good, informative read.

Random question of the week: What book are you currently reading or what was the last book you read?

I'm currently reading a book on Catherine the Great. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. It's a great book so far.

Great first hand account of living there during the occupation - [Five Years in the Warsaw Ghetto] (http://www.amazon.com/Five-Years-Warsaw-Ghetto-Witness/dp/1904859054) by Bernard Goldstein. I read it earlier this year and found it quite moving. The things people did for their freedom during the uprising is heartbreakingly brave.

I'm sure you do...Comrade...o_O

The KGB was far and away better than CIA in human intelligence. Two books I read and enjoyed. Spymaster and Spy Handler

I haven't but I will. Check out The Long Walk. https://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Story-Freedom-Tie/dp/1599219751

There are a number of true life adventure stories, especially about escapes from Russia, that are well worth the read. I have read most of these and they are amazing. https://www.amazon.com/gp/buy/thankyou/handlers/display.html?ie=UTF8&asins=1633230473&isRefresh=1&orderId=113-2199401-5946649&purchaseId=106-0134021-8976259&viewId=ThankYouCart

In about 1908 my grandfather and his brother drove from Boston across the States, the the Philippines, Japan, China, Russia and on to Europe. We have the picture album of it but unfortunately his hag of a second wife burned his diaries about the trip shortly after he died.

Catherine the Great has a number of good biographies on her, Amazon should be able to list a few. Her reign and most of her life are well documented. I liked this one. Vlad the Impaler might be a little more difficult, I've never looked though.

Along the same lines, but not mentioned: The Way Back
Based on the true story told in the novel: The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom

The Long Walk

Skeletons on the Zahara

Both non-fiction stories of survival that I thought were incredible.

Also, not strictly survival but very good non-fiction adventure reads in the same vein are A Man's Life and The Hard Way by Mark Jenkins.

If anyone is interested in Russian cooking; I highly recommend reading Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing.

Really entertaining read; goes through different decades of Russian history and cuisines in a Julie & Julia style.

Peter the Great was really into boats and easily offended. He was an indolent young prince not much concerned with his birthright, but as soon as his sister tried to seize power, he went from playing with boats in lakes to making Russia a first-rate power and founding the Russian navy. For more info, I recommend Robert K. Massie's Peter the Great.

It's extremely complex that whole situation, if you like reading and the subject check out this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Oligarchs-Wealth-Power-New-Russia/dp/1610390709

It'll give you a pretty good idea of what happened before and after.

As far as Stalin biographies go, I would recommend you read volume one of Stephen Kotkin's three part bio on him. Here's the link:

Stalin: Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594203792/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_EsJfvb01P8RMZ

It's very interesting, and definitely not dry at at all.

Edit: Additionally there is also Oxford's History of the Soviet Union post-1945, although seeing as I haven't had the chance to read it yet I can't tell you just how readable it actually is.

Last of the Empires: A History of the Soviet Union 1945-1991 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0192803190/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_WuJfvb0JSYHNT

I found this one really interesting: http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Without-Face-Unlikely/dp/1594486514

I would love to hear other peoples opinions about it.

I enjoyed The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz.

It is supposedly a true story, but this has been called in to question by some.

Either way, it was a good read.

So ANOTHER biggish problem is the Stalin section -

The story of Stalin here is ,essentially, the Trotsky version. The scheming, plotting, just kinda randomly came into power, was never an heir or protege of Lenin.

Of course the Stalinist version of Stalin isn't accurate either.

Here's what I can add to this :

• Stalin was made a member of the Bolshevik Central Committee in 1905 by - one guess here - Lenin. Other Bolsheviks objected to Stalin being involved in robberies, Lenin reportedly said that a man of action was exactly what the party needed.
  
  
• Stalin came back from Siberian exile a little before Lenin came back from Switzerland, and he was pretty indispensable, despite not being very visible.
  
  
• During the civil war, Stalin displayed an ability to both blame shift when things when wrong and to get things done. He was 100% ruthless in how he did it, but he did do it. This ruthlessness extended to fellow Bolsheviks as well as to everyone else. Whether or not Lenin knew or cared about the blame-shifting part doesn't seemed to have affected Stalin because....
  
  
• Lenin specially created the General Secretary position for Stalin. Since the RSFSR/USSR was already a single party state that had outlawed factionalism inside the party, this was an incredibly powerful position. And there's no way Lenin didn't know that. Note that this wasn't in 1917 like the comic book portrays but in the 1920s.
  
  
• Stalin's relationship with Kamenev and Zinoviev wasn't nearly as neat as the comic shows. For example Kamenev and Zinoviev were two of the backers of a plot/thing to try and remove Stalin using the (maybe forged maybe not) Lenin's Testament (not actually called as such on the paper). I'm not sure if that was one of the still secret documents when the comic was made, so I don't know if its right to call them out for not knowing about it.
  
  
• There's nothing really unusual about Stalin getting Trotsky's friends fired. That was pretty standard for the Bolsheviks post-civil war.
  
  
• Stalin didn't, maybe, consider Trotsky a rival. As Kotkin put things "...Trotsky proved to be less the obstacle to than the instrument of Stalin's aggrandizement.... Stalin needed "opposition" to consolidate his personal dictatorship - and he found it." I must say I also object to Trotsky wearing Stalin-esque garb (what came to be called the Vozhdika I think, leader clothes) when Trotsky had a major preference for Western style suits.
  
  
• Stalin did not grab Lenin's power. It was handed to him, by Lenin.
  
  
  All I got to say about that. Other than read Kotkin's book if you haven't already.

Sure there has.

On the other hand, you might want to read this:

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Without-Face-Unlikely-Vladimir/dp/1594486514

http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Great-His-Life-World/dp/0345298063


The best book i have ever read.

FYI: There's another book with the same title. I love first-person non fiction like this. I read it a few years ago, and was enthralled.


I haven't read Stephen King's book, but you guys make it sound tempting.

Masha Gessin's book on the rise of Putin The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin https://www.amazon.com/Man-Without-Face-Unlikely-Vladimir/dp/1594486514 does a great job of explaining how the Russian oligarchy functions and includes a detailed account of Browder's experience too.

A far more appropriate bogeyman would have been happy to refer to the start of the battle. Okay, at this point, but it's important to establish a colony in the New Russia by David E. Hoffman](http://www.amazon.com/The-Oligarchs-Wealth-Power-Russia/dp/1610390709).

Thanks very much! Would anyone happen to have a PDF version of 'Farm to Factory' by Robert Allen?

http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Factory-Reinterpretation-Industrial-Revolution/dp/0691144311/

http://www.amazon.com/Economic-Transformation-Soviet-Union-1913-1945/dp/052145770X/ref=pd_sim_b_1

These two should be helpful!

Russia. Check out Red Notice by Bill Browder. If you've ever so much as heard of the Magnitsky Act, you should hear the full story behind it.

When Russia decided to privatize its assets after the fall of the Soviet Union, they did so in a way that let a handful of people accumulate massive amounts of it very quickly, leading to the development of an Oligarchy. Putin eventually maneuvered himself into a position of authority in the government, and after clawing back some power from the oligarchs back to his position, was able to jail and put on a show trial for the richest oligarch in Russia. The oligarch was jailed for years and lost most of his wealth.

What do the other oligarchs do, after seeing their most successful peer utterly demolished by Putin? They go to Putin and ask what it will take to keep them out of jail. Browder guesses that Putin told them "half."

Browder had a bit of experience with one scam that had to be authorized from the very top, a tax rebate scam. His cronies would fraudulently take over companies, gets judgments against said companies for millions of dollars, and then claims against those companies' previously paid taxes and gets those taxes refunded to them by the government.

Will add that to my to read list, thanks.

My first introduction to these figures and how they were connected was The Oligarchs back in the early 2000s.

Sounds like "The Long Walk"

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Story-Freedom-Tie/dp/1599219751

Movie trailer

also "As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me"

Walking like a boss? Read this some time...

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-True-Story-Freedom/dp/1558216847!

What you're looking for is the first book of the Stalin trilogy

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stalin-Paradoxes-1878-1928-Stephen-Kotkin/dp/1594203792/ref=sr_1_2?crid=23KDC6NFEEFH4&keywords=kotkin+stalin+volume+3&qid=1573896635&s=books&sprefix=kotkin%2Cstripbooks%2C199&sr=1-2

Yes it's 900 pages but it's amazing. I actually put off listening to Hardcore history because I was reading this and didn't want to be interrupted. I'm about to read the second book, which is about the 1930-41 period and expect it to be just as good.

I've read Masha Gessen's book about Putin - I highly recommend it:https://www.amazon.com/Man-Without-Face-Unlikely-Vladimir/dp/1594486514/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484750660&sr=8-1&keywords=masha+gessen

It's a terrible conspiracy, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman is a great book, if you're interested! I need to get his other books on the family.

I'm currently listening to his side of the story up to the Magnitsky Act, very compelling stuff.

Red Notice by Bill Browder -

[Audible]
(https://www.audible.com/pd/Nonfiction/Red-Notice-Audiobook/B00T3OCE1W/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1501520478&sr=1-1)

[Kindle]
(https://www.amazon.com/Red-Notice-Finance-Murder-Justice-ebook/dp/B00LD1ORX6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501520565&sr=8-1&keywords=red+notice)

"Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State"

Is good if you're interested in the direct aftermath and the immediate consequences of the collapse. The author was the Moscow correspondent for the WSJ for quite some time, so you'll end up wading through some inevitable bias. Alternatively, you can look into "The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia" and exchange a psychology-based explanation for the modern Russian Federation from Satter's book for a series of biographies of the current top flight of Russian society.

​

I've heard good things about Remnick's "Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire" but I have not had a chance to read it myself, so I can't comment much on its historicity or historiography.

Sorry to arrive late to the party, but there is another book regarding the resident KGB officer at the USSR embassy in Washington D.C.

Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer is a fascinating read by the man who was the case handler for some of America's most notorious spies including Robert Hannsen and Aldrich Ames.

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Without-Face-Unlikely-Vladimir/dp/1594486514

The Oligarchs

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1610390709/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_1610390709

[Great read.] (http://www.amazon.ca/The-Man-Without-Face-Unlikely/dp/1594486514)

The Longest Walk

Check it out.

>Can anyone tell me the different reasons explaining why Lenin was bad/good?

Books can. Like this one

Page 328? https://www.amazon.com/Oligarchs-Wealth-Power-New-Russia/dp/1610390709

[New biography of Stalin] (http://www.amazon.com/Stalin-Volume-Paradoxes-Power-1878-1928/dp/1594203792)

The Long Walk by Slamovir Rawicz:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Long-Walk-Freedom-Tie-In/dp/1599219751

Try [The Man Without a Face] (https://www.amazon.com/Man-Without-Face-Unlikely-Vladimir/dp/1594486514)

I know you're asking for a broader history of Russia that goes back much further, but for recent events I wholeheartedly recommend (Man without a face: the unlikely rise of Vladimir Putin)[https://www.amazon.com/Man-Without-Face-Unlikely-Vladimir/dp/1594486514] by Masha Gessen. This only deals with the second half of the 20th century, but it is the most penetrating and insightful exposes on Putin and his rise to power I have ever read. Gessen herself is a Soviet/Russian expatriate currently living in the US, and one of the foremost Putin critics of this generation.

Great that you're on Getty now. You're going to want to also check out Wendy Z. Goldman, Sheila Fitzpatrick, and Ronald Grigor Suny, other leaders of the "revisionist" school of Soviet Historiography who re-evaluated a lot of Cold War assumptions about Soviet politics.

Probably the best non-revisionist Soviet historian, Oleg Khlevniuk has a liberal bias but his 2015 book provides so much information that you'll learn a lot if you maintain a critical eye.

Since I don't see it linked, I want to recommend Massie's Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman for a more detailed, but still engrossing, account of the Russian royal court (including quite a bit of detail about the in turns insufferable and pitiful Peter III) during this period.

The long walk by Slavomir Rawicz

A polish officer captured during WWII and sent to the gulag, escaped and walked over thousands of miles by foot--out of Siberia, through China, the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and over the Himalayas to British India

It's a much easier read that the Gulag Archipelago, although there's some controversy over how accurate it is because he rejoined the war and didn't survive.

For the entire story of Browder and the Magnitsky act, I highly recommend Browder's book "Red Notice". I read it last year and it was shocking and infuriating, but I didn't expect it to be so topical this year.

Had no idea about that. Then I read The Man Without a Face.

Robert Massie in Peter the Great, setting the scene for the Great Northern War, actually puts several pages describing the Swedes as a great power and what a ferocious military machine they had. It's been over a decade since I've read the book, but I remember their infantry being especially fearsome.

the more I read about Putin and his alleged assassinations of those that oppose him, the more I worry about Trump's stance on Russia. I think Trump may do a reversal on Putin after getting the intelligence reports on him. here's one attempted assassination. here

this is not concern trolling and maybe we should move a debate on Putin to ATD. has anyone read this book

>He fired the FBI director so as to stopper investigation of his "Russian ties"? Wait a bit. How do we know that, any more than we know what is meant by "Russian ties"?

Because that's what he told the Russians - you know, the people with whom it's suspected his campaign colluded. And those ties to Russia just might be clearer if his financial records were disclosed.

>As to the Russian angle, may one ask innocently what difference Russian "influence" could really make in an American election? And what payoff are the Russians seeing for it, if so?|

The difference is to either 1) get a convenient stooge elected or 2) sow enough discontent to keep the US politically fractured. The payoff is that anything that's bad for the US is perceived as good for russia. Particularly sanctions. See Masha Gessen's book on putin.

>Have there been any signs of American concessions or moral rollovers that are likely to strengthen Vladimir Putin?

Let's see... a couple of their highest operators have been in the oval office. And so far media coverage has helped prevent any concessions from happening though they were being discussed by the POTUS elect's transition team.

>And did Trump give the Russians sensitive information in a meeting with the ambassador and foreign minister? Not according to his national security adviser.

More bullshit. McMaster gave non-answers. And then the orange one himself opened his maw to spill the beans in a mind blowing "I'm not spilling the beans" denial.

>Trump was selling his country down the river? That's what it sounds like the impeachment crowd is hinting at.

Maybe depending on whom you ask. Mostly what I get is that people are very concerned with the level of fucking incompetence and damage being done.

Seriously fuck William Murchison and the Creators - whatever the fuck that is.

I've enjoyed the following, not being from that part of the world, culture or religion you'd have to take my insight with a grain of salt. There doesn't seem to be that much information about that part of the world, one of the reasons I find it so fascinating. It's fairly invisible. There is typically one viewpoint from this media, red team or blue team, nothing seems to be that unbiased. I found "The Oath" to be the most informative and interesting.

BOOKS-

• The Oath https://www.amazon.com/Oath-Surgeon-Under-Fire/dp/0802714048
  
  
• Inferno in Chechyna https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1611687373/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• Young Stalin https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400096138/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• The Soviet Mafia
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312071353/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• My Jihad
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585745650/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• The Man without a Face
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594486514/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• Blowing Up Russia
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594032017/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• The World's Most Dangerous Places
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060011602/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• The Dirty War
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1860468977/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• Merchant Of Death
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470048662/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• Urban Guerrilla Warfare
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813124379/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• ANYTHING by Misha Glenny (althought about Former Yugoslavia Mainly)
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400044111/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140257713/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140172866/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  DOCS-
  
  
• Letter To Anna
  
• Chechnya The Dirty War
  
• cena prawdy "truth"
  
• immortal fortress
  
• From Beirut to Bosnia (good as well)
  
• Children of Beslan
  
• Terror in Moscow
  
• Nedoverie "Disbelief"

False flag opps are also done in Russia. Putin is a terrorist and has killed many of his own people. It's well documented that he kills journalists that speak out against his violent acts. Masha Gessen's book reveals many acts of terror against his own people and the killing of her mentor when she finally returned to Russia from Boston after years of exile for fear of the KGB and Putin. She was killed the moment she arrived in her parent's building on the stairway up to her parents house. She didn't even get to look into her parents eyes after all those years in the US. The web just makes us easier to track and Facebook is the CIA's wet dream come true.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Without-Face-Unlikely/dp/1594486514