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Top Ten Tuesday-Free Week!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

This week's topic is a freebie so I decided to make a list of my Top Ten Favorite Books About Russia.  As I am sure you noticed I am fascinated by all things Russian (I even have a master's degree in Russian Studies).  Some of these books are fiction and some are non-fiction but they are all excellent and very readable (I didn't include any scholarly works on the list).

1.) Kolyma Tales by Varlaam Shalamov-This is a book of short stories about life in the Gulag.  It is heart-breaking and eye-opening.
2.) War and Peace by Lev Tolstoy-This is Russian Literature at it's best.  Do not be intimidated by the length; the story is fantastic!
3.) The Romanovs by W. Bruce Lincoln -This book tells the story of the Romanov family from it's very beginnings in 1613 to the end in 1917.  It is a big book but it reads like fiction.
4.) Natasha's Dance by Orlando Figes-This is a cultural history of Russia.
5.) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky-My all-time favorite work by Dostoevsky!
6.) Journey into the Whirlwind by Yevgenia Ginzburg-A memoir of life in the gulag that provides a woman's perspective on the camp system.
7.) Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie
8.) Gulag by Anne Applebaum - Everything you ever wanted to know (and didn't want to know) about the gulag (Russian concentration camps).
9.) The Unquiet Ghost by Adam Hoschild-This book is an interesting look at Stalin's legacy in modern day Russia.
10.) Kremlin Rising by Peter Baker and Sarah Glasser-A look at Russia under Putin.

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Comments

  1. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzJanuary 24, 2012 at 6:21 AM

    I like how you used your specialized knowledge for the benefit of all of us readers out here. Thank you.

    Here is my It's Top Ten Travel Narratives. I hope you will stop by!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnneJanuary 24, 2012 at 8:09 AM

    After reading The Bronze Horseman I have been thinking about reading some more about Russia. Thanks for this great list of books to pick from!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ShoshanahFebruary 4, 2012 at 8:30 PM

    I definitely need to refer back to this! While I do enjoy learning & reading about Russia, I honestly don't know where to start. But I definitely like the way The Romanovs sound and think I'd probably enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete

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