laurie_ann

From our recent trip to Russia I have a small box of books to give away. Free postage if you will take them. Just want them to go to a good home. Includes travel guides, history, art, language. The list is below. First one to email me at lpetersen3 AT sbcglobal DOT net is the lucky winner.

Russia – a Concise History
How Russia Works
Russian and the Russians
A Travelers Companion to Moscow
Moscow map
Moscow Pocket Guide
Moscow – Eyewitness Travel
Moscow, a Cultural History
Lonely Planet Moscow
The Ladies from St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg Museums, Palaces and Historic Collections
A Travelers Companion to St Petersburg
St Petersburg Pocket Guide
Knopf Mapguides St Petersburg
Solovki, a History of a Russian Monastery
Russian Life Magazines
Catherine the Great
The Foresaken, an American Tragedy in Stalin’s Russia
A Cultural History of Russia
Saving the Tsars Palaces
An Imperial Collection, Women Artists from the State Hermitage Collection
I Speak Russian Phrasebook and CD
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Russia 2010
Czars

mendota98

I would love them.

==Mike

laurie_ann

Glad they can go to a good home!

amyb

LOL, laurie_ann, that list is almost identical to what I've been reading this summer in preparation for my trip! Hopefully you were well prepared? ;-)

Did you do or are you doing a trip report? I'd love to hear how it went! amyb721 AT live DOT com

Cpelk

Laurie Ann, Sorry I'm too late seeing this. I'm going to Russia for 2 weeks in September.

I'd also really enjoy a trip report if you care to do one.

Of all the books you listed, are there any you would highly recommend? I've read Natasha's Dance, which was very good. I have a couple guide books.

Thank you

Cindy

amyb

Cpelk, I'm not the original poster, but I am researching for 2 weeks in September too. So far I have read:

Russia – a Concise History (this was the best of the lot, very easy to read and very concise!)
Catherine the Great

I might add:
-- Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick
-- Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler (fiction but absolutely riveting, I still have images burnt into my brain from this one)
-- Among the Russians by Colin Thubron (a travelog from the early 80s, very different from today, but still excellent insight)
-- Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed (an American who was a friend of Lenin and in Moscow for the 1917 Revolution)

Right now I'm reading Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg and I have a book called The Amber Room: Fate of the World's Greatest Lost Treasure. I am fascinated by the Romanovs and the mystery behind the Amber Room, so I'm looking forward to these.

Cpelk

amyb

Thanks for the reply. I am reading a book about the Romanovs too, The Romanovs, The Final Chapter, written by Robert Massie, the author of Nicholas and Alexandra. It is about the aftermath of the executions of the Romanov family, non-fiction. It's pretty interesting so far.

I just put Darkness at Noon on hold at the library. When I'm done with that I will get Catherine the Great. I wonder if there is any historical fiction on her? Some of the h/f authors are quite good.

I read the Amber Room, Steve Berry, a little while ago. Very interesting. Also fiction so a lot of speculation, but still fascinating.

Where and when are you going to Russia in September? I am taking the Waterways of the Czars river cruise from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.

Cpelk

amyb

Hi cpelk, I'm doing an independent journey through MIR Corp. for 6 days in St. Petersburg and 4 in Moscow. I have two day trips out of St. P to Catherine's Palace and Peterhof/Pushkin. I know a couple people at my gym who did a cruise similar to yours and they loved it. What a great trip!

I may pick up that Steve Berry book for the plane, unless I don't get through the rest of my reading before then!

I'd love to talk more as we get closer, feel free to email me at amyb721 AT live DOT com I'm really struggling on what to pack...the weather seems quite variable that time of year!