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The Kalevala
LeClue22, 2008
The Kalevala is an epic poem which the Finn Elias Lonnrot compiled from Finnish and Karelian folklore in the 19th century. It is held to be the national epic of Finland and is traditionally thought of as one of the most significant works of Finnish language literature. Karelians in the Republic of Karelia and other Balto-Finnic speakers also value the work. The Kalevala is credited with some of ...
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Night (Oprah's Book Club) 629 reviews
Elie Wiesel
Hill and Wang, 2006
Elie, a brave boy and a survivor
+ Scary reminder of what mankind is capable of
+ heart wrenching
+ The banal becomes terrifying, the terrifying becomes everyday "normal"
+ Human Words Cannot Convey the Story
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Israel: A History 24 reviews
Martin Gilbert
McNally & Loftin Publishers, 2008
A comprehensive history of Israel from 1862 to 1997
+ A comprehensive history of twentieth century Israel
+ A responsible and fair history of modern Israel
Martin Gilbert, in this comprehensive volume, chronicles the history of the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael), from 1862 to 1997.
He describes the ancient attachment of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, through the millenia. Since the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in CE 70, ...
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The Kanteletar: Lyrics and Ballads after the Oral Tradition by Elias Lonnrot (Oxford World's Classics) 1 review
Elias Lonnrot
Oxford University Press, USA, 1992
"Music was made from grief, moulded from sorrow"
Elias Lönnrot (1802-84) was a district health officer and amateur scholar stationed in northeastern Finland in the late 1820s who became passionately interested in the folklore of his people. Influenced by the Romantic conception of folk culture as the repository of national identity, Lönnrot ...
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The First World War 198 reviews
John Keegan
Vintage, 2000
Wasn't expecting it to be this good.
+ A fine military look at World War I
+ Essential Reading for background on World War One
Over the last year, I have read a lot of books on WWII, and some on the Winter War in Finland and the Spanish Civil War. I was ready for a general overview of WWI and bought Keegan's book based on Amazon reviews. I have to think the "Civilization" review got it right as "The best one-volume ...
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198411 reviews
George Orwell
Signet Classics, 1950
Amazing
+ A Haunting, Believable Look At the End of Human Freedom
+ A very disturbing book
+ What It Means to Be Human
+ the hobo philosopher
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The Iliad of Homer67 reviews
Homer
University Of Chicago Press, 1961
Richmond Lattimore...Genius!!!!!
+ greek myth
+ Apt reading for America today
+ Western literature starts here
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Schindler's List103 reviews
Thomas Keneally
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 1994
"He who saves a single life saves the whole world."
+ Phenomenal!
+ Even More Compelling & Incredible Than The Movie
+ Vivid, detailed and important. One of my most favorite book... ever...
+ an amazing record
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Sun Tzu: Art of War (History and Warfare)15 reviews
Tzu Sun, Ralph D Sawyer, ...
Basic Books, 1994
A Valuable Keepsake
+ A good version
+ Asian military history and philosophy
+ Lessons to take to heart
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Kolyma Tales (Twentieth-Century Classics)28 reviews
Varlam Shalamov
Penguin Classics, 1995
Kolyma: "Don't Believe, Don't Fear, Don't Ask"
+ Staggering.
+ Good but not great
+ Great Book
+ Powerful reminder of man's inhumanity to man
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The Gulag Archipelago Volume 1: An Experiment in Literary Investigation (P.S.)4 reviews
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2007
The best book I have read in years! A real eye-opener.
+ A historical account of total madness and destruction
+ Greatest Book Ever Written
+ Aleksandr is The Great
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A Clockwork Orange1 review
Anthony Burgess
Ballantine Books, 1971
A clockwork orange
Exelent, one of the best books ever written. Anthony Burgess goes into the mind of the juvenile delinquent so vividly. great vilin to hero story.
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Signet Classics)167 reviews
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Signet Classics, 2008
only one day in the gulag
+ Five Star Book of Five Star Books
+ Icy, Enduring, Classic ...
+ An important book
+ Frightening Insight Into the Dark Side of Mankind
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November 1916: The Red Wheel / Knot II9 reviews
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000
Monumental Wave of Events
+ Great story slowed down by superfluous research papers
+ Will Still Be Read in the 22nd Century
+ Hunting for history with a big net
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Europe: A History102 reviews
Norman Davies
Harper Perennial, 1998
Pleasure to read, pleasure to disagree!
+ Europe in One Book
+ THE ONLY BOOK YOU WILL EVER NEED ON EUROPE: REFRESHING TRUTH & OBJECTIVTY - SUPERBLY WRITTEN!!!
+ europe
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Gulag Archipelago, Two : III-IV1 review
Solzhenitsyn; Alexandr
HARPER & ROW, 1975
A Gulag Mini-Encyclopedia. Debunks Gulag Whitewashes
There is so much here about Russian history, Soviet thinking and policies, and the situation inside the Gulags. Because there are so many topics and issues raised in this combined volume, I will elaborate on only a few of them.
Solzhenitsyn rarely mentions Gulag Poles in this set of volumes. In ...
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Solaris88 reviews
Stanislaw Lem
Harvest Books, 2002
Exploring Solaris, from movies to book.
+ Solaris
+ A thoughtful science fiction story
+ Classic Stanislaw Lem
+ Compelling, cerebral science fiction
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The Second World War15 reviews
John Keegan
Penguin (Non-Classics), 2005
An excellent one volume account
+ An excellent analysis of the Second World War
+ J.Keegan : Second World War __ Very Good
+ Attempts the Impossible ... nearly succeeds!
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The First World War, Second Edition: A Complete History56 reviews
Martin Gilbert
Holt Paperbacks, 2004
A Compelling Read
+ Excellent, and a sobering reminder of history's worst battlefield carnage
+ Competent, well written, accurate
I enjoyed reading it immensely. Somewhere between Keegan's sometimes overwhelming numbers and Strachan's daunting compendium lies this humanizing account of the Great War. I'm not enough of a historian to tell you what may or may not be wrong with this book, but I am enough of a reader to say ...
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The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Saved 1,200 Jews and Built a Village ...23 reviews
Peter Duffy
HarperCollins, 2003
An inspiring story
+ Three brave brothers...
+ mm soo good!
+ War and Beyond!
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