Found out about the book - People to People, Poland - by accident. Before we left England on a tramp steamer I phoned a fellow mentioned in the book from Gdansk who offered such hospitality to my self and my friend. We were accepted as guests by his family for two days. Without the book we wouldn't have met some splendid people and wouldn't have had our eyes opened to their warmth and generosity. This experience has been repeated time and again.

I knew I would be going to Lithuania for a dance festival that occurs every 4 years. This was the first time (in 1994) since the country was returned to freedom from behind the Iron Curtain. It was also the first time my mother returned after 50 years! I picked a few people from different cities based on a few characteristics listed in the book: age, what they like to do, and how much Enlish they knew (my Lithuania is quite basic). My longest pen-pal, now friend, have been corresponding for years. She invited me to stay in her empty flat for all three weeks! She even met us at the airport when we arrived with an armload of flowers - a big tradition in the eastern bloc countries. She showed us many places, we met with her family, we went to her beach house on the opposite side of the country. I visited other people I met in the book in other towns. One person gave me ideas of places to go, another I met in the town where my mother grew up. My mother and I met up with some relatives of ours in other towns, went driving to many smaller places and really learned a lot about how life has changed since the forties, and since the Soviets were driven out. I picked people who from their 20s to their 40s. One was an artist, one a translator, a student, a newspaper writer, a homemaker, and a teacher. Two did not write back, but I made many friends a learned a lot about the people of Lithuania and how they lived. To me, that is more important than sitting in a hotel room, or taking a bus tour; it is the people who make up a country. This book provides a way for People to meet People. I highly recommend it, or others in this series. Poland is next for me.

moving, poetic story which helped me better understand my own mother's story. 2 stories in one - life of an estonian family dealing with the war and it's aftereffects...AND family dynamics down through the generations, showing how life creates understanding through experience...

This was the first book that I've read of McNab's. Let's just say that based on the strength of this book I immediately went out and bought Remote Control, his first non-fiction book. And seeing how that's going so far I'll be buying more.

I had finished reading Firewall in a few days. It was that good. Great detail on how Intell operations work, tactics, strategies. fantastic for realism.

Other books of this nature that I found great were 'Dogs of War' and of course, 'The Day of the Jackal'. Both excellent books for Forsyth.

I should have started to read McNabs books years ago. I had falsely assumed that the books would be all bravado a la Rambo-style but its not like that at all.

Constant action, realism, and just an all around great read. What you also discover is that McNab is also a really good writer for someone of his background.
Keep up the great work Andy. I'm looking forward for your latest book.

Andy McNab's done it again !! Firewall, the latest in the Nick Stone saga is the best yet. McNab delivers in a no-nonsense style, his gritty realism brings home the endurance of the deniable ops personel, giving the reader little gems of knowledge along the way. I doubt, for example, whether i'll ever need to soften up plastic explosive in a tub of hot water but at least I now know how it's done. Such insights together with the vivid accounts of location, conditions, treatment from and of captors expertly draw the reader into the world of covert op's to the extent that it's extremely difficult to put the books down once started. I would suggest you buy Firewall (but the others first if you haven't already) and begin to read it early in the day. Or you could buy in lots of caffeine. I can't imagine it'll take Hollywood too long before they turn Nick Stone into a celluloid hero. . .  

I heard of this book on the TV, being a fan of McNabs previous novels I eagerly awaited it. This week I got hold of it and never before has any single book deprived me of such sleep. I could not put this down and in some way I'm glad the ordeal is over before I lose my job from being too tired!

This is a very gripping tale, very well set. Clearly McNabs 'regiment' (SAS) background gives much credibility to the storyline, but it hasn't stopped here and I can respect the lengths McNab must have gone to in his background research.

McNabs writing and storytelling is awesome. There is no point in being pretentious about this, it doesn't need it.

One thing I have to say...if you read McNabs Immediate Action (autobiography) he makes reference to not doing very well at school. It's clear Nick Stone, the character in Firewall IS McNab (or a McNab clone type) as similar references are made. I don't think McNab needs to concern himself about his success at school though. This guy has done more in life than most, as an SAS hero and as one of the best modern novelists around.

I hope the people in hollywood have picked up on McNab. Is Nick Stone the new James Bond?

The best thing about this edition is its stunningly beautiful cover. It goes downhill from there.

The previous edition (was it around 1995?) was really, really very good; ahead of everyone in the business. I wrote a glowing review at that time. Since then, the countries have moved on at an amazin pace, but LP did not manage to catch up.

Cultural information is still good (and that is the area where fewest changes were needed). It is not as good with practicalities: the book is full of small inaccuracies - money, costs, payment options, transport information all suffer from lazy, complacent research.

Another sad fact is that the authors seem to draw upon their one-off impressions: waiters tipping themselves by not giving you the change, what's that about? Credit cards accepted in "main cities and towns" - well, hello, when did you last go to any of the countries? These things go on and on.

As for "Getting There" information, one wonders which planet are Lonely Planet researchers living on. Has anyone told them about the Internet? About cheap offers from the airlines? How long can continue with their ridiculously irrelevant drivel about bucket shops and courier flights?

A good thing that can be said about this Lonely Plant is that it is not of trademark "bleeding-heart" variety and that anti-American propaganda still has not found its way into it. You will have to get the Iceland guidebook if you want some of the most bitter, biased and unwelcome LP campaigning.

Overall, it seems like Lonely Planet is cutting costs, and the most recent thing that they have chopped off is proper research and verification. This is unfortunate, for the start was really good.

I've used this guide to travel from Estonia to Lithuania via Latvia, and I can assure that the coverage of those countries is absolutely great. The stories included in the book are simply juicy drops of culture, and surely they capture your interest and push you to get more deeply in the history of those sites you are visiting. No matters where you go, you will find the essential information and much more than that. This guide worth the money.

As with all of Lonely Planet in Eastern Europe, this book is excellent. The historical background is particularly good, it makes some sense of an extremely complicated, and at times, surprising history. This are in many ways countries, almost of myth and old stamp collections, that have come back to the real world -a fairy tale in more ways than one. This book keeps that spirit alive, and I highly commend it.

This book, based on an actual journal, tells the story of a Baltic baron (Timo von Bock)in the 1800's set in Livonia (now Estonia).

Timo, who doesn't beleive in the class structure of the time, and falls in love with and marries a poor Estonian girl (unheard of for a baron to do). But it is his mysterious letter to the Czar that lands him 9 years in jail and costs him all his teeth. He is only released after he is deemed a "Madman" and is allowed to return to his home, but remains under "house arrest".

The journal is written by the brother of Timos wife who lived with them at the time, and the book is the journal re-written and made into a more fictional story by the author Jaan Kross. The story is tragic and sad, but well written and even tho there is no real climax to the story, the day-to-day life of these interesting people keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next.

It's also an interesting fact (altho not mentioned in the story, only in the authors notes) that Timo was actually the great-grandson of Peter the Great!

The first review printed here (From Kirkus Reviews , 01/01/94) is a review of "Professor marten's Departure" also by Jaan Kross, not "The Czar's Madman"!

After a trip to the encylopedia for a quick refresher on CzarsAlexanderI and Nicholas I, a look at the atlas to realize that Estonia is very close to St. Petersburg and a dictionary search for "Livonia," The Czar's Madman became a fascinating novel of post-Napoleonic Russia. Clearly Timotheus ("Timo") von Bock, an Estonian aristocrat, has been effected by the French philosophes and the Age of Reason. His ideas are "mad" by Russian uppercrust standards.

The narrator of the book is Timo's brother-in-law, Jakob, whose journal writing over 32 years gives the reader a glimpse of many richly detailed and vivid characters and locations. This literary devise lends an air of unfolding mystery. While writing about life going on around him, Jakob emerges as a character, with all his human flaws, that we care about.

Kudos to the author and the translator.

There is no denying that this is a very valuable book on the Baltic States' history during the fall of the Soviet Union. But on the other hand, there are few other books out there to compare this one with. The bibliography on the history of the Baltic States is quite scarce. Lieven gives a good, and thourough analysis of a specific time in history, however, for many local Balts, when reading the text, it is obvious that this was written by an outsider looking in. Lieven does not always seem to fully understand the real character and history of the region. Nevertheless, since there are very few foreign authors paying attention to the region, an imperfect treatement is better than no treatment at all. The Baltic Countries have changed dramatically since this book was written. The situation described in the book as "contemporary" already seems like ancient history in the Baltic States. Readers should not think that the countries described in the books are still the same today. It is a valuable book, since there is little else written on the period or the region. However, looking at it objectivly, it is not perfect, and lacks a true understanding of the events that have shaped Baltic history and created the Baltic people.

This book is a good view of the path to the Baltic's 2nd Republic. The author gives a good account of what transpired in the Baltic republics during the late 80's and early 90's, when this book was written. He was living there and reports firsthand the events that transpired.

I almost felt that most of the book was about Lithuania. Maybe that is because Lithuania, unlike its northern neighbors, was able to resist teutonic conquest and allied itself with Poland. Lieven gives the reader history and more, because the actions the Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians took in becoming independant are rooted in history. For example, the 2nd Republic had to decide what constitution or laws were used. Most opted for the interwar laws and constitutions. But this conflicted with the European or EU view. So, the Balts were considered to be insensitive to the colonizers, in their midst. The Balts looked toward Europe, but their view of Europe was stuck in the interwar period. That was their only view, during the Soviet occupation. As the author states in arguments with "the extreme Right-wing parties about some of their ideas, and my knock-out blow (wrapped in less direct language) has always been: 'what you are saying is not European; it will separate you from the modern West'" page 71. This idea is sort of a mantra for the author. That the Balts do not know what it is to be European.

The book has notes, but no biliography. I found that to be unacceptable. The book is organized thus: 1 The Shape of the Land; 2 Surviving the Centuries; 3 Independence Won and Lost, 1918-40; 4 The Troglodyte International: The Soviet Impact on the Baltic; 5 Imagined Nations: Cycles of Cultural Rebirth; 6 Lost Atlantises: The Half-Forgotten Nationalities of the Baltic; 7 The Baltic Russians; 8 The Independence Movements and their Successors, 1987-92; 9 Building on Ruins: The Recreation of the New States; Conclusion: The West and the Baltic States.

This was an interesting book. I would be interested in reading what has happened during the 10 years, since the writing of this book. I think the author took pride in declaring to the Balts that they were not "modern" Europeans.

Baltic history had been so long overlooked, at best it was relegated to footnotes in European history, that it was great to read a book totally devoted to the subject in the English language. Lieven gives an excellent overview of events that led to the independence of these tiny republics in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse. Unfortunately, the information is now dated. So much has transpired since 1991 that the book needs to be revised and updated. While the other former Soviet republics struggle to esatblish even the rudiments of a free-market economy, the Baltics are thriving. As Lieven pointed out, these countries have long European roots, unfortunately they became entangled with Russian roots and their personal histories became obscured.

"Return to Independence" is perhaps one of the most unique books on the topic of Estonia. It is one part historical account, one part autobiography, and one part personal polemic. Taagepera mixes concise, academic prose with a dose of literary caprice when relating personal anecdotes and ingenious metaphors, resulting in a book about much more than the Estonian national identity, or the Estonian struggle for freedom from the USSR. Rather, this book is about of the indomitability of the human spirit, and the fuel to that spirit that we know as freedom.

Very good book, interesting history review of the past, but a little bit PROPAGANDA sounding end, anyway, the excellent source for those who is interested in Estonian history.

This guidebook orients you to the essentials of the four cities but it's a good buy even if you plan on visiting a little more than just the capitals since it includes tips on excursions outside the cities as well. Monuments, churches etc are briefly but well described and gives you a flavor of the history and the culture of the country you're visiting. The guide seem to be written more to satisfy the culturally interested tourist than the bargain-seeking backpacker. This travelbook enhanced my trip and answered almost all my questions. A little minus is that the maps in the book only features a few of the mentioned sites and therefore some of them can be a bit tricky to find even if there often are suggested walks.

Joel Ostrow's analysis of the institutional design of the Soviet Duma and the Estonian Riigikogu is comprehensive and insightful. Ostrow draws on many excellent sources, including copious interviews with governmental officials, to give the reader a picture of just why the Duma failed and the Riigikogu is working. In the end, posits Ostrow, institutional design defines the space in which good ideas either grow or are trapped. Linkages between legislative and governmental functions, as well consensus building, administrative resources, and the expertise of special committees are some of the major facotrs that Ostrow explains and compares. A great book for students of Russia, and an even better one for students of comparative politics.

It was wonderful to read this estonian folk tale, but as fascinating as it was I, too, was disappointed in the depiction of Elinda. After I got over my excitement at seeing an Estonian story in print.

It's only been 8 years since Estonia and the Baltics as a whole have been mapped for Americans.Therefore I find it unfortunate that the drawings, especially of Elinda, do not resemble the ethnic types found in the Baltic region. The illustrator seemed to have had little or no knowege of Estonian history, traditions, folk art, costumes, and Baltic types, important, if we want to use this lovely story as a teaching tool, bringing geography and culture together.

We love this book. The illustrations are bold and bright, as is the heroine, (who does her job well and knows her own mind.) The tale is a nice rendition of how the Milky Way came to be, one I've never read anywhere else.