Newsweek's former Moscow bureau chief charts the disintegration of the Soviet Empire—through solid reporting conducted in Moscow, the Baltic states, Romania, and Transcaucasia in 1989 and 1990. Arrested and deported by Romanian dictator Ceausescu's Securitate for interviewing a dissident, able to speak to a top conservative Soviet official (Ligachev) usually unavailable to the press, and adept at finding sources on all sides of any given conflict, Cullen, fluent in Russian, provides impartial firsthand accounts. He witnesses the religious and ethnic clash between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Transcaucasia, questioning ordinary people on both sides as well as soldiers, and is present during the rise of independence in the Baltic states—where, he notes, in the absence of an established opposition philosophy professors try to play politician to lead the rebellion. Examining the obstacles to the release of the republics from the USSR, Cullen describes the interlocking economies and the large contingent of Russians who have settled in many of the republics. Rather than report on all the countries in the Soviet bloc, the author focuses on only a few locales, then visits them repeatedly as events unfold over 1989 and 1990. Visiting Romania before the revolution and twice afterward, for example, he explores concerns that the new regime, having awarded itself the old leadership's power and perquisites, will continue to forbid any real change. Strong portrait of life under radical change, examining both the passions of the citizenry and the more abstract movements of political events.
Pub Date: Oct. 24, 1991
ISBN: 0-87113-472-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1991
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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