Book Description
When Chechen rebels took Moscow theatergoers hostage in October 2002, it tragically highlighted the ongoing conflict between Russia and its breakaway republic, Chechnya—a war that has claimed an estimated 200,000 Chechen lives in the past decade. Yet the true nature of the debacle lies behind the headlines. In The Oath, a heroic Chechen doctor relates his harrowing experiences in the line of fire to bear witness to this international calamity, and illuminates his remarkable people and their culture.
In 1994, when fighting threatened to break out in Chechnya, Baiev left his promising career in Russia to aid his countrymen. First, he worked in a Grozny hospital until it was destroyed by Russian shelling. Returning to his hometown of Alkhan Kala, he and his fellow villagers restored a clinic with his own funds, and he soon found himself the only doctor for 80,000 residents in six villages and 5,000 refugees. During the next six years, he worked without gas, electricity, or running water, with only local anesthetics, and at one point dressed wounds with sour cream or egg yolks when supplies ran out. He often donated his own blood for surgeries, and on one occasion performed sixty-seven amputations in forty-eight hours.
Although he mainly treated civilians, Baiev also cared for Russian soldiers and Chechen fighters alike, never allowing politics to interfere with his commitment to the Hippocratic oath. He harbored Russian deserters and Chechen rebels at great personal risk and single-handedly rescued a Russian doctor who was scheduled to be executed. For this, Baiev was nearly killed by both the Russian special forces and Chechen extremists. Only when the Russian Army ordered him arrested for treating a wounded rebel warlord did Baiev finally flee Chechnya.
Echoing through his memoir is the history of Chechnya, a Muslim nation the size of Connecticut with a population of one million. Baiev explains the roots of the Chechen- Russian conflict, dating back 400 years, and he brings to life his once-beautiful ancestral home of Makazhoi where his family clan goes back generations, steeped in ancient traditions that are an intriguing blend of mountain folklore—including blood vendettas, arranged marriages, the authority of village elders—and Muslim religious rituals. And he writes frankly about the challenges of assimilating into western culture and about the post-traumatic stress disorder that has debilitated him since the war began.
The Oath is an important eyewitness account of the reality of the Chechen-Russian conflict, in which countless atrocities have been committed against average Chechens in stark contrast to the Kremlin’s portrayal of the conflict. It is also a searing, unforgettable memoir that is certain to become a classic in the literature of war.
Customer Reviews:
A compelling read, deeply inspiring and heartwrenching.......2006-11-26
This book is far more than a memoir -- it is a page-turning narrative of the wonderful and terrible drama of life and war in a region about which we think little and know even less, written by a man of exceptional bravery and humanity. I met Dr. Baiev shortly after his arrival in Washington, DC, where my girlfriend (working for Physicians for Human Rights at the time) coordinated PHR's assistance to Dr. Baiev in Washington. At the time I had little appreciation for just what this man had been through, although it was obvious he had survived a harrowing ordeal. To read now the full story behind the brief weeks in which his life intersected ours has been both fascinating and deeply moving. His account of living as a Caucasus youth in the Soviet Union, his struggle to become a doctor, and his extraordinary dedication to his profession, his people and and his faith through two protracted and brutal wars is by turns fascinating, inspiring and heartwrenching. You will not find a more intimate account of the conflict in Chechnya, nor a better illustration of the way that such conflicts have become simultaneously global and local. If you care about peace, if you care about the prospects for a free and prosperous world, you cannot afford not to care about the gross violations of human rights that accompany conflicts increasingly economic, sectarian and cultural all at once. Dr. Baiev's gripping account puts a profoundly human face on the complexity and the urgency of coming to grips with the destructive conflicts that need not and should not continue into the twenty-first century.
Thrilling, heartbreaking must read primer on the human toll of war.......2006-06-03
If you are interested in war, modern politics, news, or human rights, you need to read this book. It shows what warfare is really like, what happens to people after governments make decisions. And it is heartbreaking, but you cannot put it down.
The conflict in Chechnya is mostly forgotten and then often miscontrued topic for most of the world. Dr. Khassan Baiev's memoir sheds a light on the horrors of life in Chechnya since 1994, what this ghastly, genocidal war means for the common people and Russian grunts. Baiev is a surgeon with a big heart, and never turned anyone away. He explains casualties from the rather disturbing anatomical perspective of a surgeon, illustrating how fragile bodies and how much pain people can suffer.
The book starts with his life before the war: of the ancient and beautiful Chechen traditions, of the extreme and often brutal Russian racism. As you read the book, the cultural differences between the ancient highlander Chechens and the rest of the Western world seem dwarfed by how lovely their life was, and how, as you read it, you can see yourself in their world. What stays with you is that once you empathize on this level, the eruption of war and desolation is utterly heartbreaking. Because Baiev lived it we see an intimate world being shattered, not a headline.
Baiev (narrowly) survives years of war until both the Russians and Chechen guerillas are out for his head because his clientele includes everyone (and mostly civilians) so he has to escape to America, and eventually moved to Boston. His observants description of coming to America, seeing how peaceful it is here, how people of many races coexist, and how a town in Vermont took care of his family, gives you a deeper appreciation for what we have in this country and that many take for granted.
I've never read anything that captures so vividly and personally the heartbreakingly human face of war. I think everyone should read it just to be educated on something that is going on at this moment, but that many people do not know about or simply don't understand. It speaks of overwhelming swaths of cruelty and evil, but also transcendent moments of grace and joy, humanity between enemies. Baiev treated anyone who needed help, so we see souls, not sides.
What steals the breath from you, what made me rather emotional, is how war is revealed here as so useless, so tragic, so profoundly evil because we are all people, and war destroys and perverts this sacred life that we all share in.
an excellent book.......2006-04-24
If you plan on investing your time in reading one book this year make it this one. It is a remarkable tale of an honourable man trying to survive in barbaric times under the tyranny of Putin's Russia. Hassan Biev states that one in every five chechens has been killed as a result of the conflict. However after all this carnage the war stills continues and the state still exits in the hearts of men like Dr. Biev. Perhaps the actions of people like him will ultimately lead to peace in that most violent of places.
A very interesting book........2005-07-30
Let me begin by saying that if everything in this book is true Dr. Baiev has my total respect and admiration. It's inspiring to realize that people of his caliber do exist.
There are, however, one or two disquieting features of this book that I feel compelled to mention. After having read the initial reviews I had expected not only a compelling story of human strength amidst tragedy, but a book of high literary accomplishment. That has not come to pass. Whatever Dr. Baiev's own writing style, it has been submerged in the journalistic style of Nicholas and Ruth Daniloff. Nick Daniloff is he of the famous Soviet espionage sting of the 1980's when he was arrested in Moscow in an apparent KGB set-up. Ronald Reagan himself is reported to have been involved in getting Daniloff released. I just wish Dr. Baiev had been able to choose a more literary writer to assist him in developing this book.
Another point I'm almost embarrassed to make is that Dr. Baiev comes across in this book as almost too good to be true. Not only is he an heroic doctor, brave humanitarian, and loyal son, brother, and friend, he is also described a medical entrepreneur, a doctor who not only moonlights as a cosmetic surgereon, but who is also a national martial arts champion! If this book is made into a film I can only imagine Harrison Ford playing the part of Dr. Baiev. It almost seems as if some of Dr. Baiev's financial and sports successes were included in the book just to appeal to the certain segment of the community that might find those aspects of his life as compelling as the humanitarian work of saving lives and limbs amidst war and destruction.
Nevertheless, the book is full of unique tid-bits. While many people reading it will be aware of Russia's halting attempts to convert its military forces from a large army of draftees to a smaller one of professional soldiers this is the first time I'd seen such a negative depiction of these new contract soldiers. I don't think I'd have gotten this insight anywhere but in this book. Likewise, it was also very interesting to read that in addition to the fight between the Russian military and the Chechen rebels there is a criminal, opportunistic element also actively engaged in exploiting the tragedy of Chechnya and which appears to be much more influential than I would have imagined. I think that this insight is very valuable, not only in the context of the Chechenya, but in understanding the influence of criminal opportunists in other conflicts. For me this insight itself was worth the price of the book.
I certainly recommend The Oath, worts and all.
Opened My Eyes.......2005-07-25
This book opened my eyes to the tragedy in Chechnya, and now I want to know more. A compelling, first-hand narrative of the situation in Chechnya that everyone should read.
Customer Reviews:
The Brain, Brain Injuries, and Brain Functioning.......2000-02-28
This book is actually a collaboration between a famed psychologist and a Russian socldier who experienced a devastating head wound in battle in 1943. The soldier in vivid detail expresses how the head injury has permanently affected his life as well as how he processes perceptual information and communicates with the world. Very easy to read, I was clearly struck by the heroic measures made by the soldier to enlighten Luria and other readers on how his functioning was irrevocably altered by his brain injury. Normally complicated discussions on the brain are rendered easily understood in this book. I highly recommend this for anyone who works in the mental health field.
Amazon.com
Was the Cold War inevitable? Was there an international communist conspiracy? Did Castro and Khrushchev beat Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis? After combing through a mass of declassified and previously unavailable documentation to reconsider the collision of the American and Soviet empires, Yale professor Gaddis replies in the affirmative. Given Josef Stalin's convictions, the Cold War was inescapable: it is the choices that each side made that prove fruitful for historical research, and not the mere fact of the war, as Gaddis neatly demonstrates. The American empire--Gaddis's term--prevailed because, he says, "democracy proved superior to autocracy in maintaining coalitions," and not necessarily because of any technological or economic advantage. Gaddis dispels several misconceptions and urges that students of Cold War history should foremost "retain the capacity to be surprised."
Book Description
"A masterly review of the early pahses of the conflict between the United States, Russia, China and their respective allies from 1946 to the Cuban missle crisis in the autumn of 1962. It is clear, thorough and judicious; in short, magnificent."--The Economist "...Gaddis has done a thorough job
of collating material from these diverse sources...and constructing a trenchant analysis that puts these fascinating tidbits into context."--San Francisco Chronicle & Examiner Based on the latest findings of Cold War historians and extensive research in American archives as well as the recently
opened archives in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and China, We Now Know provides a vividly written, eye-opening account of the Cold War during the years from the end of World War II to the Cuban missile crisis. The book brims with new information drawn from previously unavailable sources,
with fresh insight into the impact of ideology, economics, and nuclear weapons, and with striking reinterpretations of the roles of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Khrushchev, Mao, and Stalin. Indeed, Gaddis concludes that if there was one factor that made the Cold War unavoidable it was Stalin.
Customer Reviews:
Provoking the Bear...........2007-08-12
It's almost impossible to defend dictators who always overstay their historical need, however, we tend to leave out some of the historical facts that may be a part of the problem.
We (USA) sent 15,000 troops into Russia in 1918 to fight the bolsheviks. In addition, Harry Truman authorized overflights of Russia in 1950 using the new Boeing B-47 as a reconnaissance platform. Some histories point out that up to 200 military personnel were lost in these overflights.
I would say that this kind of activity is 'somewhat' provocative and might cause the Russians some concern, particularly in regard to our (USA's) motives AND intentions.
We (the USA) then added the U-2 spy plane into the mix in 1956 and we denied sending this plane over Russian territory. Until, of course, the loss of a U-2 in 1960.
So the Russian Bear really had a dance partner and if the dance partner didn't create the problem, it certainly didn't help to solve the problem and this added to Russia's paranoia!!!!!
JL GADDIS is a house toady. And he teaches at the school that has a long tradition of providing candidates to the Central Intelligence Agency, whose reputation is overstated and whose greatest claim to fame is taking on and SOMETIMES defeating 3rd world countries and governments.
a bit lazy.......2007-01-24
Not much new in this recycled history of the Cold War. Presents the story from the exclusive standpoint of American policy makers.
Rethinking the First Years of the Cold War.......2006-11-20
"We Now Know" is Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis' review of the early years of the post-World War II competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. This book was first published in 1997, a few years after the Soviet side of the Cold War had become available to historians in the West. Gaddis and others had previously written from what was known about the West and surmised about the Communists. Gaddis revisits the struggle and fleshes out how actions on both sides drove the course of history.
This is a scholarly volume, written for the graduate student in foreign affairs, with large numbers of footnotes. Nevertheless, the general reader with an interest in the Cold War and the fortitude to persevere through some long stretches of dry material will be richly rewarded with some interesting insights.
Gaddis finds that the personalities of principal communist leaders such as Stalin, Khrushchev, and Mao played a disportionate role in determining the foreign policies of the Soviet Union and Communist China, the direct result of a lack of checks and balances in their authoritarian governments. Stalin's paranoid need for security inside and outside Russia, for example, was so great in 1945 that no concessions by the West could have avoided the Cold War. Khrushchev's attempt to bluff the West on the size of the Soviet strategic deterrent also fooled his allies, contributing to misunderstandings and failed policy. Gaddis assesses that Kim Il-Song of North Korea misled both Stalin and Mao into supporting his invasion of South Korea in 1950.
Gaddis finds that the policy of both the United States and the Soviet Union were to a significant degree shaped by interaction with their respective allies. The willingness of the United States to consult in a meaningful way with its allies was essential to the acceptance of its policies, while the tendency of the Soviet Union to coerce its allies triggered much of the resistance that undermined the Soviet empire. Gaddis' thoughtful analysis of the role of nuclear weapons is especially worthwhile.
"We Now Know" holds up remarkably well against the ten years of additional research available since Gaddis wrote this book. It is highly recommended to students of the Cold War.
Rehashed previous material mostly..........2006-11-13
Gaddis rehashed much of his previously printed material mostly, and consults very little foregin source material, and of course again lays the blame for the Cold War at Stalin's feet. Though this work may provide a decent primer for those beginning to study the Cold War, this work is not going to provide a very fresh look or say much Gaddis hasn't said before... To counter balance Gaddis, take a look at "Cold War Triumphalism" edited by Ellen Schrecker.
Volume I of the History of the Cold War.......2005-03-09
We Now Know by John Lewis Gaddis is a preliminary reevaluation of the first half of the Cold War (roughly 1945-62) based on information from the Soviet side that has become available since the demise of the Soviet Union. After presenting a wealth of material, Gaddis offers eight tentative hypotheses:
1. Diversification of power did more to shape the Cold War than did the balance of power. The Soviet Union rivaled the west in military power but lagged significantly in every other dimension, such as economic, cultural, moral, and ideological.
2. Both the US and Soviet Union built empires during the Cold War but they differed significantly. The Western European nations actively sought US support and involvement in the post-WWII years, leading to NATO and the Marshall Plan. In contrast, the Soviet Union had to put down numerous active revolts by members of the Warsaw Pact.
3. Many people did see the Cold War as a contest between good and evil, even if historians rarely did. Thousands of East Germans voted with their feet immediately after WWII, again in the 1950s (leading to the construction of the Berlin Wall), and again in 1989 (when Hungary opened its borders).
4. Democracy proved superior to autocracy in maintaining coalitions. Gaddis observes that many attributes of a nation's internal politics carry over into its foreign policy. The US was able to maintain its coalition by applying the consensus building techniques used domestically to managing its coalition. The Soviet Union's approach to coalition building, based on its approach to domestic politics, achieved unity within the Warsaw Pact only by smothering dissent.
5. Marxism-Leninism fostered authoritarian romanticism. At the end of WWII, Stalin believed that the next war would be between competing capitalist nations, that the workers of the world would unite, and that all the Soviet Union needed to do was to wait for capitalism to self-destruct. He failed to realize that his aggressive moves into central Europe had united the capitalist nations against him.
6. Nuclear weapons exchanged destructiveness for duration. Nuclear weapons rendered direct military conflict between the US and Soviet Union untenable, even in the years when the US had an overwhelming nuclear superiority. The result was that the Cold War continued unabated until the late 1980s.
7. As long as Stalin was running the Soviet Union, the Cold War was inevitable. If one imagines the changes in history that might have resulted from removing one key individual, the only such change that might have prevented the Cold War appears to be the removal of Stalin. His unique position is due to both his absolute power over the Soviet Union and his aggressive policies, exemplified by his moves into central Europe, his encouragement of Kim Il Sung to invade South Korea, and pressure on Mao to intervene when the US/UN forces had defeated the North Koreans. In contrast, removing any one western leader would not have produced any significant change in the course of events.
8. Future Cold War historians should retain the capacity to be surprised. Gaddis modestly observes that his book is not likely to be the final word on the Cold war.
One striking aspects of We Now Know is the description of "Potemkinism" and the impact it had on (1) the Soviet Union, (2) the US, and (3) the Soviet allies. (A Potemkin Village is a façade: An apparently prosperous village consisting of nothing more than building fronts and props built solely to impress the Tsar.) (1) In the face of US military superiority after WWII, the Soviet leadership repeatedly exaggerated its military strength. Waves of bombers flying over the Kremlin in conjunction with parades circled back and flew over again to create the impression of tremendous air power. Khrushchev repeatedly boasted about the superiority of his missiles and nuclear warheads when, in fact, he had very few available. This bluff was designed to deter the US by concealing the actual weakness of the Soviet Union, but Khrushchev failed to anticipate the potential reactions by the US and his allies. (2) In the US, the bluff prompted the "missile gap" debate that figured prominently in the 1960 presidential election and provoked a major effort to "catch up" with the Soviets. The Soviets were then forced to commit more resources to expanding their strategic capabilities in the face of actual American superiority and the arms race was underway. (3) Several Soviet clients also believed the bluff and acted more aggressively because they relied on Soviet military superiority to back them up. This pattern contributed to Kim Il Sung's invasion of South Korea, the Chinese intervention in the Korean War, and Castro's aggressive stance during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
We Now Know focuses on the first half of the Cold War, so it is unfair to criticize it for not addressing how and why the Cold War ended. Gaddis offers a few hints related (1) the impact of the change in US policy under Reagan from containment to challenging the Soviets across the spectrum of power (military, economic, moral, cultural, etc) and (2) the numerous changes in Soviet policy under Gorbachev, glasnost, creation of democratic institutions, and especially, the decision not to intervene when the Berlin Wall came down.
Perhaps Professor Gaddis is working on a sequel to address the second half of the Cold War and, especially, its conclusion. I'll offer three gratuitous thoughts for this endeavor. (1) His comments on Gorbachev's impact on the Soviet Union and the Cold War are very much on the mark. Gorbachev was faced with the impossible task of reforming a monstrosity with no redeeming qualities. His willingness to allow the Soviet Union to die rather than return to the policies of Stalin and Lenin established him as the only Soviet leader who was truly a "Hero of the Soviet Union". (2) Gaddis' comment that it is not clear whether Reagan's policy change in the 1980s was out of "ignorance or craft" is a bit unfair. Moving to confrontation may have been risky (primarily in economic terms, since nuclear standoff was well established) but I think it was well thought out and executed. The challenge was extended primarily in the economic and moral dimensions of power where the Soviets were most vulnerable. I don't mean to give all credit to Reagan; I think Margaret Thatcher was his strategic and philosophical mentor in this and many other areas. (3) Finally, I'll offer some credit to Jimmy Carter who claimed the moral high ground for the US with his emphasis on human rights. His policies may have been largely ineffectual at the time (Iran, Nicaragua) but they laid the foundation for challenging the Soviet Union on moral grounds.
Book Description
Examine a previously unexplored aspect of Civil War military medicine!
Here is the first comprehensive examination of pharmaceutical practice and drug provision during the Civil War. While numerous books have recounted the history of medicine in the Civil War, little has been said about the drugs that were used, the people who provided and prepared them, and how they were supplied. This is the first book to provide detailed discussion of the role of pharmacy. Among the topics covered in this essential volume are the duties of medical purveyors, the role of the hospital steward, and the nature and state of medical substances commonly used in the 1860s. This last subject would become a matter of considerable controversy and ultimately cost William Hammond, the brilliant and innovative Surgeon General, his career in the Union Army.
This richly detailed book shows why the South found drug provision especially difficult and describes the valiant efforts of Confederate sympathizers to run the Union blockade in order to smuggle in their precious cargoes. You'll also learn about the scurrilous privateers who were out to make a personal fortune at the expense of both the Union and the Confederacy. In addition, Civil War Pharmacy illuminates the systematic effort of pharmacists, physicians, and botanists to derive from Southern plants adequate substitutes for foreign substances that were difficult, if not impossible, to obtain in the Confederacy.
In this painstakingly researched yet highly readable book, Michael A. Flannery, co-author of the critically acclaimed America's Botanico-Medical Movements: Vox Populi, examines all these topics and more. In addition, he assesses the relative successes and failures of the pharmaceutical aspect of health care at the time—successes and failures that affected every man in army camps and in the field.
Civil War Pharmacy: A History of Drugs, Drug Supply and Provision, and Therapeutics for the Union and Confederacy includes photographs, helpful tables and figures, and six appendices that make hard-to-find information easy to access and understand. You'll find:
the Standard Supply Table of Indigenous Remedies (1863) Circular No. 6 from the Surgeon General's Office (May 4, 1863), calling for the removal of calomel and tartar emetic from the Supply Table instructions on reading and filling a 19th century prescription—with a glossary of Latin phrases and approximate measures, an excerpt from The Hospital Steward's Manual, and more! a circular from the Confederate Medical Purveyor's Office a Materia Medica for the South: A list of medicinal substances from Porcher's Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests common prescriptions of the Civil War period as well as basic syrups of the era with monographs on their principal substances: alcohol, cinchona, hydrargyrum (mercury), opium, and quinine
Packed with more information than can be listed here and, just as importantly, presented in a reader-friendly manner, this is a book that no one interested in Civil War history—or pharmacy history—should be without!
Customer Reviews:
I knew the author of this book.......1997-10-09
George W. Adams was Chairman of the History Department at Southern Illinois University when I was an undergraduate there.
As a student of Dr. Adams, I had the intestinal fortitude to review his book as a class project.
Not only was I a history major, I had just been discharged from the Army having served three years as a medic.
I was fairly critical of Dr. Adams book. Although history is its long suit, it falls a little short in the "medical facts" department.
For example, he glossed over the infection which could be caused by a slow moving minie-ball travelling through already soiled clothing. Without the benefits of anti-biotics, this was one of the leading causes of death during the Civil War.
Nonetheless, it is an excellent treatment of a rather specialized subject.
P.S. Dr. Adams gave my an "A" on my project.
Average customer rating:
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The Wellborn Science: Eugenics in Germany, France, Brazil, and Russia (Monographs on the History and Philosophy of Biology)
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0195053613 |
Book Description
The four contributors to this volume examine the eugenics movements in Germany, France, Brazil, and the Soviet Union, and describe how geneticists and physicians participated in the development of policies concerning the improvement of hereditary qualities in humans. They examine the scientific components of those programs and discuss the involvement of social, religious, and political forces that significantly altered the original scientific goals. The book opens up new and comparative perspectives on the history of eugenics and the social uses of science in general.
Book Description
A Booklist Editor’s Choice for 2003
In this riveting memoir, Khassan Baiev relates his harrowing experiences as a surgeon in one of the worst war zones of the last decade.
When the hospital where Baiev worked in Grozny, the Chechen capital, was destroyed by Russian shelling, he returned to his nearby hometown of Alkhan Kala and restored an abandoned clinic with help from villagers. Soon he was the only doctor for tens of thousands of residents and refugees in the surrounding area. During six years of war and intermittent ceasefire, he often worked without gas, electricity, or running water, with only local anesthetics and homemade medical supplies.
Although he treated mainly civilians, Baiev upheld the Hippocratic Oath by also caring for Russian soldiers and Chechen fighters alike--a practice that branded him a traitor by both sides. Kidnapped and nearly killed on several occasions, Baiev finally fled Chechnya in 2000 and won political asylum in the United States.
An important eyewitness account of the reality of the Chechen-Russian conflict, which has killed 20 percent of the Chechen population, made homeless another 350,000, and seen the deaths of thousands of Russian soldiers. Grief of My Heart is a searing memoir that is certain to become a classic in the literature of war.
Customer Reviews:
0 stars - avoid.......2006-03-17
Wow. Nice to see a modern day chechen islamic propaganda :) But seriously, just avoid this book. This is a one-sided account of war in chechnya, of course from chechen side.
disappointed.......2006-02-24
I have to say that when I saw that there was another book by Chechen surgeon, Khassan Baiev, I was anxious to get my hands on a copy. After reading and enjoying The Oath, I thought there was more to come. I was more than disappointed when I received my copy only to find out that it is the same exact book with a new title. It is disheartening to me that Amazon is still selling a combo package for both of these books on their website even after I wrote to them to let them know of the mistake.
A Great Book .......2006-01-04
I am a firm beliebver that all things happen for a reason and some things are extremely difficult to understand. I picked up this book on my way out of Barnes & Nobles and did not expect much from it. I have read it and I am still in shock. The scenes that this book has in it are terrifying and it is a shame that the American public does not see the images of Chechnya like they do of Iraq.I pray that the death toll and damage that has been done to these Chechneyans will soon come to an end. I know there will be colateral damage and this book tells you why.
I felt anger as I read in chapter 10 where he describes going to a city called Grozny where Khassan has to dodge and hide from Russian helicopters that are firing missles into homes and at groups of women and children. I could not believe that all Chechen males from 6-65 are thrown into concentration camps. There are 15 million land mines in this small country. I was humbled when the doctor asked a man,who had just stepped on a land mine, that he had to amputate his leg and the poor fellow said: do what you must, but if there are other people worse than me, take care of them first. This was during the time he had to operate on people for 36 hours straight. May Allah reward this man for his help in those grimm times. These are just some of the Unbelievable things you will read in this book. Pick it up and just read a few pages and you will be locked into it. I can't recommend this book enough for doctors or those interested in what makes a terrorist. Please check this book out, you wont be dissapointed.
Average customer rating:
- A strange mix of politics and embalming...
- An odd, but interesting, book
- If you want something really different
- Mostly fascinating
- Not what you might expect, but a little gem nonetheless
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Lenin's Embalmbers (Panther)
Ilya Zbarsky , and
Samuel Hutchinson
Manufacturer: Harvill Press
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Binding: Paperback
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A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End
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Lenin's Mistress : The Life of Inessa Armand
ASIN: 1860466559 |
Amazon.com
"Comrades, Vladimir Ilich's health has grown so much worse lately that it is to be feared he will soon be no more. We must therefore consider what is to be done when the great sorrow befalls us.... Modern science is capable of preserving his body for a considerable time, long enough at least for us to grow used to the idea of his being no longer with us."
On January 21, 1924, just three months after Joseph Stalin spoke those words, Vladimir Lenin died. Trotsky, already falling from favor, argued that turning Lenin's remains into a relic ran counter to Lenin's own beliefs. Eager to strengthen his new regime, however, Stalin saw that preserving the body was a good way to harness the religious sentiment of the nation's masses for his support. The Committee for Immortalization was duly founded, and--after much debate--scientists Vladimir Vorbiov, Boris Zbarsky, and their assistants were selected to embalm the great leader. Lenin had been dead for two months before they were able to begin working in a laboratory housed inside Lenin's mausoleum in Red Square. Despite constant refrigeration and tentative preservation attempts, the body had deteriorated--"the left hand was turning a greenish-grey colour; the ears had crumpled up completely." Vorbiov developed a successful solution of glycerin, alcohol, water, potassium acetate, and quinine chloride, which restored the body to a lifelike appearance and is still used for preventive maintenance today.
Boris's son Ilya Zbarsky recounts this strange history and his family's experiences in Lenin's Embalmers. Technical details regarding the embalming process are interspersed amongst stories about Lenin, moving the body during World War II, and even traveling abroad to embalm other Communist heads of state. Zbarsky also reveals the political infighting that dogged the scientists, and how, even in the shadow of Lenin's mausoleum, it was impossible to hide from Stalin's purges. Finally, Zbarsky brings the book to its ironic conclusion: when their funding was cut by 80 percent, the mausoleum's scientists began embalming the former Soviet Union's nouveaux riches to support Lenin's upkeep. Full of interesting detail--and remarkable photos--Lenin's Embalmers makes for an engaging read. --Sunny Delaney
Customer Reviews:
A strange mix of politics and embalming..........2003-03-29
Written by the son of one of Lenin's main embalmer's, this short book follows his family's personal history against the backdrop of Soviet politics. The book is at its most effective in relating the Zbarsky's personal history in the face of Stalinism. Behind all of this is the story of Lenin's corpse. Indeed, the author's father was head of the labratory maintaining Lenin. A fair bit of technical detail is given about the preservation and tomb.
This is a very personal memior. The author had a poisoned relationship with his father, and the book is laced with this acid. Good or Bad, Zbarsky blames his father for misdirecting his studies and his career. In between this, the history of political distortion of science during the 1930's from a personal point of view is fascinating and chilling. The book also tells the story of how his father rose to a privileged position in Soviet society, and some of the double think involved in this. The Zbarsky's thought they were untouchable, having survived the purges of the 1930's only to fall foul of Stalin just before his death. Evidently, with some irony Stalin's death probably saved the father, who was in the gulag by then.
The book concludes with some history of other embalming done by the lab, first for political reasons and then for financial reason after the collapse of the Sovient Union.
In some ways, I thought the poisoned relationship between father and son detracted from the history involved. Perhaps it was deserved, but at some point it color's the author's perspective on other events. Having said that, this book is a strange but interesting story of life in Soviet Russia.
An odd, but interesting, book.......2001-03-20
I had never heard about this book until I saw it sitting on a shelf at a small bookstore. The title intrigued me, so I purchased it. While a lot of the work, at least initially, discusses the embalming of Lenin's corpse, there was a considerable amount of material about life during the purges of Stalin. The author was a witness to many events, albeit from a priviledged position in the Soviet hierarchy, and his recounting of the "show trials" and the terror of the "knock in the middle of the night" is revealed explicitly. There is also some recounting of other Communist leaders being embalmed by Russian experts, the section concerning the work on Ho Chi Minh during the height of the American bombing of North Vietnam being particularly interesting. Read this book to learn many different and interesting things about life under Stalin, and also the early days of the USSR.
If you want something really different.......2000-08-07
I have read so many books about the Former Soviet Union, that I would probably not realize I had read some of them, until I had read into the books for some length. This book by Ilya Zbarsky "Lenin's Embalmers" is not one you will forget.
The book is not ghoulish nor is it sensational; it is an incredible story about an exceptional event and profession. The book is primarily about the initial embalming, and the decades of maintenance upon Lenin's corpse that have followed. The book is made much more interesting, as the Author meshes the story of Lenin's remains with Soviet History as he and his Family experienced it. The Author also includes the History of the tomb itself, from the earliest designs, through the modifications it has gone through over the years. Architectural drawings as well as construction photographs are included.
The book maintains that all of Lenin was initially preserved, and contrary to persistent rumors, that the entire body has remained intact. Whether or not the book is convincing on these points, I leave to other readers. This really is a great offbeat read. It also is a serious explanation of the History, not a tabloid distortion.
Mostly fascinating.......2000-06-12
A sort of autobiography written by the son of one of Lenin's embalmers who himself became employed as one. Overall, it's very interesting and full of fascinating little anecdotes about the USSR in the 20s and 30s, although I thought that the narration wandered pretty aimlessly after Zbarsky was more or less removed from his position and therefore from the stream of events. He finishes off the last couple of chapters with some stories related to him by his successors. The story about the Russians running around in the jungles of Vietnam hiding the corpse of Ho Chih Minh from the Americans is worth the price of admission alone.
Not what you might expect, but a little gem nonetheless.......2000-05-24
When you buy a book entitled "Lenin's Embalmers" you might expect a work on the scientific process of embalming and maintenance of the body of the Soviet leader Lenin. However to be more precise, the book is really a biography/autobiography of Ilya Zbarsky and his father. The book shines when it does focus on the politics and science of modern embalming in the Soviet Union as well as the current business of preserving members of the current Russian crime gangs.
However the rest of the book should not be overlooked. Here is a facinating insight of what it was to be an intellectual under the Lenin/Stalin regimes during the first half of the 20th century. This is truly an extraordinary story of someone who has had a front row seat to one of history's most brutal regimes and the (eerie) hero worship that regime spawned.
Average customer rating:
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Russian/Soviet Military Psychiatry 1904-1945 (Cass Series on the Soviet (Russian) Study of War)
Paul Wanke
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0415354609 |
Book Description
Psychiatry, like most professional fields in Russia, gained its legitimacy from its ability to serve the Tsar and later the Bolshevik party. The militarized nature of these governments meant that psychiatry would have to prove its worth to the military. This study will cover Russian/Soviet military psychiatry from its first practical experience during the Russo-Japanese war to its greatest test during the Great Patriotic War 1941-45. Throughout this study, the continuity between Russian and Soviet military psychiatry will be emphasized. For example, psychiatry's materialist school dominated throughout this period and that Russia's acceptance that psychiatric casualties will occur allowed them to focus their resources on treatment rather than prevention.
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