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Product Description
Product Description
For the first time, the Russian news agency TASS has opened its complete photographic archives to create an unprecedented and uncensored look at the last 100 years of life in the Soviet Union and the new Russia as seen through Russian eyes. Featuring more than 250 astonishing photographs - many never before published - these images capture the life of a people and the dramatic sweep of Russian history, from royalty to revolution, the rise and fall of communism, and daily life throughout. Illuminated by richly informative essays and extended captions providing context on the times and the photographs, this is the definitive visual record of Russian history. The book is structured as an introduction and 8 chronological chapters that each begin with a lively essay giving history and context on the years covered, followed by photographs with extended captions.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Is it worth the money? I think so. The paper quality is good and the images are crisp. Photographic negatives didn't fare well in the USSR, I've got books that rely upon scanned prints and as a consequence are quite poor, not so the TASS archive.
The history begins with the last years of the Romanovs, the 1905 revolution, Rasputin and finally the October revolution. 49 pages of images and well written text establish the context of this book - Soviet Power!
The chapters are logical and only a bit light during chapter 4 -The Great Patriotic War - we have a variant of Khaldei's Reichstag flag shot which is good to see, a couple of flower bedecked homecoming images, a couple of the parade, Zhukov then precedes the Yalta & Potsdam team photos. Nothing then until the next chapter, The Thaw, in 1953. My hope was this book might have shed some light on the time of reconstruction after the war and before the expiry of Stalin.
The viewer is very much aware of the heavy hand of Socialist Realism during the thaw and the stagnation periods, there is a wonderful image of a remarkably glum looking Solzhenitsyn amidst the bombast of the space and arms races.
I'd not seen around 80% of the images used before which makes this book ideal for me as a photographic lecturer. Previously unseen is not a recommendation on its own unless they are both informative and well crafted. Thankfully they are good pictures that along with a well written text that effectively deals with the creation and demise of a superpower and shows us the transition into Modern Russia.
The book also contains a good bibliography for future reading.
The history begins with the last years of the Romanovs, the 1905 revolution, Rasputin and finally the October revolution. 49 pages of images and well written text establish the context of this book - Soviet Power!
The chapters are logical and only a bit light during chapter 4 -The Great Patriotic War - we have a variant of Khaldei's Reichstag flag shot which is good to see, a couple of flower bedecked homecoming images, a couple of the parade, Zhukov then precedes the Yalta & Potsdam team photos. Nothing then until the next chapter, The Thaw, in 1953. My hope was this book might have shed some light on the time of reconstruction after the war and before the expiry of Stalin.
The viewer is very much aware of the heavy hand of Socialist Realism during the thaw and the stagnation periods, there is a wonderful image of a remarkably glum looking Solzhenitsyn amidst the bombast of the space and arms races.
I'd not seen around 80% of the images used before which makes this book ideal for me as a photographic lecturer. Previously unseen is not a recommendation on its own unless they are both informative and well crafted. Thankfully they are good pictures that along with a well written text that effectively deals with the creation and demise of a superpower and shows us the transition into Modern Russia.
The book also contains a good bibliography for future reading.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Good book but not spectacular
8 July 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
When I got this I thought it might contain either the very best of the historical photos which came out of the USSR or unique, unseen photographs which were unprintable before the collapse of communism. This manages not to do either. There are some good photos of historical interest but I have seen them as illustrations in other books. There are pictures I have never seen, but they are ususally very mundane. With few exceptions there are no "iconic" photos, nor are there photos which were taken but not used.
This is a good resource for Soviet history but not a gripping collection by any means.
This is a good resource for Soviet history but not a gripping collection by any means.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Gorgeous coffee table volume
17 Oct 2008
Format:Hardcover
Framing a century of Russian history in photos, it is a gorgeous coffee table album, cross pollinated with history. The rarer photos of the 1930s and forward are the most fascinating - of a pogrom's aftermath in Kishinev, of workers in a tavern in 1900, of 21-yearold Ivan Sikorsky next to his second failed attempt at a helicopter. But the later color shots - particularly of Brezhnev and his retinue - are also revealing.
Each of the chronological periods is introduced by a concise yet readable essay, to provide context and background for the photos to come. Leafing through the pages (and recognizing many photos from the pages of Russian Life over the last 15 years) one is struck by how much of the century was black and white, how little of it in color. But throughout, the telling details, the frozen expressions, the candid moments, create a portrait of Soviet life that is as vivid as if it had all been shot in color. (Reviewed in Russian Life)
Each of the chronological periods is introduced by a concise yet readable essay, to provide context and background for the photos to come. Leafing through the pages (and recognizing many photos from the pages of Russian Life over the last 15 years) one is struck by how much of the century was black and white, how little of it in color. But throughout, the telling details, the frozen expressions, the candid moments, create a portrait of Soviet life that is as vivid as if it had all been shot in color. (Reviewed in Russian Life)
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Wow, what an extraordinary book!
18 Dec 2007
Format:Hardcover
What a beautiful book! I received it as a gift and was completely blown away. The pictures are amazing and the writing superb. I highly recommend this book, what a great gift!
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