Eastern Europe

During the Cold War, stories of espionage became popular on both sides of the Iron Curtain, capturing the imagination of readers and filmgoers alike as secret police quietly engaged in surveillance under the shroud of impenetrable secrecy. And curiously, in the post-Cold War period there are no signs of this enthusiasm diminishing.

Holocaust survivor Harry Gordon recalls in brutal detail the anguished years of his youth, a youth spent struggling to survive in a Lithuanian concentration camp. A memoir about hope and resilience, The Shadow of Death describes the invasion of Kovno by the Red Army and the impact of Soviet occupation from the perspective of the ghetto's weakest and poorest class. It also serves as a reminder that the Germans were not alone responsible for the persecution and extermination of Jews.

The Austro-Hungarian army that marched east and south to confront the Russians and Serbs in the opening campaigns of World War I had a glorious past but a pitiful present. Speaking a mystifying array of languages and lugging outdated weapons, the Austrian troops were hopelessly unprepared for the industrialized warfare that would shortly consume Europe.

Hinduism is one of the world’s great religions, dominating the Indian subcontinent for most of the last millennium, and its largest temple is an unbelievably magnificent structure located in Angkor, Cambodia. Known in English as Angkor Wat ("City Temple"), the gigantic complex continues to fascinate the world, both due to its sheer grandeur and size, as well as its ornamental decorations both inside and out.

In 2009, the acclaimed author of Hitler’s Furies was shown a photograph just brought to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The documentation of the Holocaust is vast, but there are virtually no images of a Jewish family at the actual moment of murder, in this case by German officials and Ukrainian collaborators.

In Russia's Last Gasp, Prit Buttar looks at one of the bloodiest campaigns launched in the history of warfare - the Brusilov Offensive, sometimes known as the June Advance. With British, French, and German forces locked in a stalemate in the trenches of the Western Front, an attack was launched by the massed Russian armies to the east. The assault was intended to knock Austria-Hungary out of the war and divert German troops from the Western Front, easing the pressure on Russia's allies.

Prize-winning author Michael J. Totten returns with a masterpiece of travel writing and history in this journey through 13 nations - all but two formerly communist - just beyond the edge of the West where few casual travelers venture. His work as an independent foreign correspondent takes him deep into the field beyond the sensational headlines, from his hilariously miserable road trip with his best friend to Iraq to the Wild West of Albania, the most bizarre country in Europe; from the killing fields in Bosnia and Kosovo to a Romania haunted by the ghosts of its communist past.

The Russian Federation and Ukraine do indeed share a common heritage, but their history and culture led them along divergent paths. Many listeners might be surprised to learn that the historical center of Russia was not Moscow, but Kiev, the capital of modern Ukraine.

The year 1989 brought the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. It was also the year that the economic theories of Reagan, Thatcher, and the Chicago School achieved global dominance. And it was these neoliberal ideas that largely determined the course of the political, economic, and social changes that transformed Europe over the next quarter century. This award-winning book provides the first comprehensive history of post-1989 Europe.

A comprehensive guide to the medicinal plants and folk healers of Eastern Europe’s Pale of Settlement—mapping ancestral folkways, herbal traditions, and shared legacies of Ashkenazi Jews and their neighbors.

“Trouble in the Balkans” was a familiar headline in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, as the European nations living under the rule of the Ottoman Empire simmered with nationalism, unrest, and a covetous yearning for one another’s territory. The Ottoman Empire had seen centuries of dominance, but by the start of the twentieth century, the once-powerful Turks were declining. As reformers within the empire sought routes to power, Ottoman subjects—denied access to the avenues of influence—sensed that the time was ripe for rebelling.

Ryszard Legutko lived and suffered under communism for decades - and he fought with the Polish anti-communist movement to abolish it. Having lived for two decades under a liberal democracy, however, he has discovered that these two political systems have a lot more in common than one might think. They both stem from the same historical roots in early modernity, and accept similar presuppositions about history, society, religion, politics, culture, and human nature.

Una lectura imprescindible para descifrar los orígenes de la guerra en Ucrania y la frágil situación de Europa del Este.

For nearly a thousand years following its foundation, there was only one Christian church. Centered in the city of Rome, the church expanded and grew until it became the dominant religion in Europe and beyond. The early growth of the Church had been suppressed by the Romans until the Emperor Constantine became the first to convert the empire to Christianity. From that point forward, the growth of the Church was inextricably linked with the Roman Empire - the most powerful military, economic, and political force in the ancient world.

The KGB is one of the most famous abbreviations of the 20th century, and it has become synonymous with the shadowy and often violent actions of the Soviet Union’s secret police and internal security agencies. Aside from the KGB, the 20th century’s most notorious spy agency was the Stasi, which was instrumental in the history of East Germany. In an era of totalitarian countries dominated by repressive state agencies, the Stasi stood out for its size, and the sheer breadth and depth of its surveillance.

Retrace the history of Ukraine and discover its unique cultural identity with this incredible history audiobook. With a gripping and deeply informative exploration of the fascinating history behind Ukraine, this audiobook offers an unparalleled look into the rich cultural legacy of a country that has endured the tests of time. Drawing on a foundation of history, archaeology, and anthropology, this audiobook provides a comprehensive account of Ukraine from prehistoric times to the present day. Delving into the diverse people and tribes that ruled Ukraine.

In this audiobook, you will discover advice that will help you throughout your stay in Lisbon, Portugal. This book will not tell you exact addresses or store hours but instead will give you excitement and knowledge from a local that you may not find in other travel books. Travel like a local. Slow down, stay in one place, and get to know the people and culture. By the time you finis listening to this book, you will be eager and prepared to travel to your next destination.

Menachem Kaiser’s brilliantly told story, woven from improbable events and profound revelations, is set in motion when the author takes up his Holocaust-survivor grandfather’s former battle to reclaim the family’s apartment building in Sosnowiec, Poland. Soon, he is on a circuitous path to encounters with the long-time residents of the building, and with a Polish lawyer known as “The Killer.” A surprise discovery leads to Kaiser being adopted as a virtual celebrity by a band of Silesian treasure seekers who revere the memoir as the indispensable guidebook to Nazi plunder.

Etwas mehr als dreihundert Jahre, vom 17. bis zum frühen 20. Jahrhundert, beherrschten die Zaren und – in seltenen, aber unvergesslichen Fällen – die Zarinnen aus der Familie der Romanows die politische Landschaft ihrer Zeit und schmiedeten eine der sagenhaftesten Dynastien aller Zeiten. Russland, der große und mächtige Nationalstaat, wie wir ihn heute kennen, wurde größtenteils durch die Anstrengungen von Romanow-Herrschern wie Peter dem Großen oder Katharina der Großen geschaffen.

Al final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial la Unión Soviética controlaba una inmensa extensión de territorio en Europa oriental. Stalin y su policía secreta emprendieron la conversión de doce países radicalmente diferentes a un sistema político y moral totalmente nuevo: el comunismo.