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In War's Dark Shadow: The Russians Before the Great War
by W. Bruce Lincoln
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Dial Press (1983)
ISBN: 0385274092
EAN: 9780385274098
Hardcover: 557 pages
Edition: 1st
SKU: 25919
Condition: Collectable Like New
Comments: THE HARDBACK BOOK! DIAL PRESS, 1983. THE UNABRIDGED EDITION. HARDCOVER WITH GILT LETTERING, DUST JACKET AND PAGES ARE IN FINE CONDITION, CLEAN AND TIGHT. Rapid shipping w/FREE tracking. GREAT PACKAGING . Air Mail.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
The shadow of war that settled upon Russia's western frontier in 1914 darkened one of the most turbulent and exciting eras in Russian history. In War's Dark Shadow, W. Bruce Lincoln brilliantly tells the story of Russia's entry into the twentieth century. In a profoundly dramatic exploration, Lincoln portrays a vast empire on the eve of World War I: the relocation of hundreds of thousands of peasants from backward villages to wretched urban slums; the creation of a new class of wealthy industrialists; the swelling ranks of revolutionary terrorists; the brutal persecution of Jews in the most anti-Semitic society before Nazi Germany; and the birth of a revolutionary intelligentsia that created some of the most exciting and vibrant art Russia had ever produced. Based on voluminous first hand accounts taken from libraries and archives in St. Petersburg, Moscow, New York, London, Paris, and Helsinki, Lincoln creates a fascinating portrait of the enormous change and devastation that crushed Russian society from 1891 to 1914, making the Revolution of 1917 all but inevitable.
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Customer Reviews
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A nice suprise
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-11-07
I am very interested in Russian history from 1891 through WWII since I collect a certain rifle that was used during that whole period. I have read various histories from the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 through many of the WWII books that are available. When I saw this volume at a used book store for $4, I figured what the heck. At least I might be able to use it for a reference.
As I opened the cover and saw it started in 1891, I became optimistic. A few pages into the first chapter convinced me that I found a gem; an interesting and informative overview of what is a very important part of Russian history.
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Great Read
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-07-12
I bought this book for a class and was surprised at how engaging it is. This book is very well written and informative, and gave me a great general knowledge of Russia leading up to the Great War. The bibliography is extensive and very useful for anyone researching Russia in this era. Highly recommended.
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Very informative!!
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-10-18
6 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
I am Russian so I knew quite a lot about Russian history before opening this book. The book is the best guide to Russian history of the period. Here's why:
-It is written in a wonderful language - very easy to read, yet directed towards scholars.
-History is divided into chapters that concentrate on specific subjects.
-It is full of detail that other history books often lack. I was suprised to see Bruce Lincoln use original Russian words instead of finding an English equivalent for it (such as "izba," "domovoj," "dvorovoj," "lapti," etc.).
-Finally, I've not yet read a book that concentrates so much, and gives such an in-depth study, on the subjects that are usually avoided being talked about "pre-revolutionary" times (simply because they are deemed not important in the light of a warfare).
With this book you will get a clear idea of what the Russian society looked like on the dawn of WWI. Bruce Lincold actually spent several years in the Russian archives doing research (but not just for this book), so he has a first-hand knowledge on the subject.
The chapters discuss the following subjects:
Chapter 1 - 1891: The Fateful Year:
Basic overview of the situation in Russia by the yar or 1891: camine, construction of trans-Siberian railway, some politics.
Chapter 2 - In the Wake of Famine:
Famine, peasants and life in the country.
Chapter 3 - Russia's New Lords:
Emancipation, new layer of society "Kuptsi" and arts and trade associated with it.
Chapter 4 - Life in the Lower Depths:
Proletariat and life in cities and towns.
Chapter 5 - The Few Who Dared:
Revolutionaries - formation of the political parties, radicals, impact on literature.
Chapter 6 - Defenders of the Old Order:
Royal Defenders - key figures that supported the old "tzar" order; their lives and activities.
Chapter 7 - "A Small Victorious War":
The Japanese War - why, when, and how. Gives the background, as well.
Chapter 8 - 1905: The Year of Turmoil:
Revolution of 1905.
Chapter 9 - "What We Want is a Great Russia!":
Government - parties, duma, people behind the law, the lawmaking process.
Chapter 10 - "The Childre of Russia's Dreadful Years":
Art revolution.
Chapter 11 - The Last Days of Peace:
Political situation on the dawn of the WWI - foreign relations and repressions.
Chapter 12 - The Drums of War:
WWI and how it affected Russia and its people.
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"What Americans Do Not Understand"
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-05-16
1 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
I chose this title, because it was true, at least for me. As Americans, we (some of us, not all) "think" Russians are not "very intelligent", "backward" and even, "less than human."
After reading this book, I tend to "get on my soapbox" to help people understand what few choices, the Russian people ever had in the outcomes of their lives! I never knew this before purchasing and reading Mr. Lincoln's book!
If you cannot be convinced by the poverty imposed on the Russians through Mr. Lincoln's words, you will be convinced by the heart-wrenching photographs; the children who appear as hopeless, hovels designed as homes with animals living within, death from starvation was not uncommon. And all the time, Russia refused (those in power prior to the Revolution)to feed her people, wheat was being shipped to other European countries.
And the Russians never questioned the motives of the Tsar; after the Revolution, they still starved and were murdered by Stalin and Hitler.
We need to change our attitudes and this book did it for me.
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Terrific !
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-04-22
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
In the forward, W. Bruce Lincoln states the book is "...an effort to explore the lives, thoughts, hopes, and dreams of the men and women who lived in the world's largest empire and to convey some sense of the tensions that tore at the fabric of their existence on the eve of the Great War and the Revolution of 1917." In this effort he succeeds brilliantly. We see portraits of Tsar Alexander III, Nicholas II, Pobedonostsev, Lenin, Rasputin, and a host of other generals, officials and ordinary people who shaped that era. We get an insider's look at what life was like in a peasant community, inside the peasant's izba or house, and their attitudes towards schooling, medicine and religion. We go inside the growing factories and the slums the workers inhabited in the cities with rapidly developing industry. We see the new nobility of the industrial barons, the revolutionaries fighting the tsarist autocracy, the defenders of the Old Order...all come to life in these pages. Graphic descriptions are given of the vicious pogroms against Jews. The impact of the Trans-Siberian Railroad in both economic and a political aspects is covered. The 1904 war with Japan is there with its criminally incompetent generals and and admirals and the war's impact on the development of the Revolution of 1905 as well as the mood of the populace as the nations slides toward the Great War. This well written, illuminating, detailed and well documented book is a classic work on the Russian society of those years and fleshes out the soul of Russia as few other books do. 16 pages of photos. Highly recommended.
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