Back in 2020 I managed to create an account of my reading thru the year (you may check it here), but failed to do it in 2021. This time I am doing my best, I started this as a draft a while ago, it became a bit like a reading diary. Also the list of books I obtained, and #todo list of my future reading are added. Upd. Lol, it seems I started this post back in October! Now it is March, and finally I close down this gestalt -- pfff!

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additions to the bookshelves:

1. Yuval Harari. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.
2. Selected stories of some St. Petersburg houses, told by their inhabitants.
3. Joseph Brodsky. The first three books of poetry.
4. Xenophon. Kiropedia.
5. Fernand Braudel. Wheels of Commerce ('Civilization and Capitalism' series, Vol.2)
6. Fernand Braudel. Perspective of the World. ('Civilization and Capitalism' series, Vol.3)
7. А.Barkova. Slavic myths.
8. Pavel Bazhov. Tales of Ural mountains.
9. М.Bulghakov. The Master and Margarita (full drafts of the novel, in 2 volumes).

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Just unpacked the parcel with both Bulghakov's volumes - they are very, very solid. Imagine: all six draft versions of this novel in full, for this famous world-acclaimed classics. Boasting!.. In several recent years this book received four additional editions - quite a lot for a scholarly philological publication, I guess its an indication of its popularity. I have never seen it in bookshops, and only found out about its existence in the internet! After that for a while I searched the second-hand market a suitable and not too expensive lot. When the stars aligned in the sky in a proper way, I became a very lucky owner!... (Both volumes including delivery costed me about $40).

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Photo above was taken by @tatdt during our joint summer walk. We discovered this little second-hand books store and entered to check briefly what it is -- but after leaving it, my library have increased by one book, which seems was waiting here exactly me. Name is 'Kiropedia' -- @tatdt have captured the very moment of it changing hands... (and you can see me, rubbing hands in anticipation). This one was my very, very long goal - finally nailed it after a dozen years of waiting.

I also should note, that mostly it was not the bookstores that helped me to obtain all the stuff; 5 out of 9 I purchased at the secondary market, through the avito service (Russian analogue of eBay).

my reading list of 2022

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Fiction & Sci-Fi ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

• Kirill Eskov. Paladins and Saracens. ('Ballads of Borya-Robinhood' series, book 3).
• Yu.Nesterenko, M.Kharitonov. Uber alles.
• Kirill Eskov, M.Kharitonov. Rossija (reload game).
• V.Markov-Babkin. New Michael. (A cycle of 6 books: «Long live the emperor!» ; «Throne of the Empire»; «Sovereign of the Revolution»; «Emperor of the world»; «Go Forward, Empire!» ; «Emperor of two Empires).

Classics ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

• A.Pushkin. Journey to Arzrum.
• A.Pushkin. History of Goryukhino village.
• A.Pushkin. The Belkin stories.
• A.Pogorelsky. Lafertovskaya makovnitza. Black chicken.
• Joseph Brodsky. Poems (first three books of poetry).

History ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

• Yuvel Harari. Sapience: A Brief History of Humankind.
• Mikhail Khodyakov. Money of the Russian Revolution and the Civil War, 1917–1920.
• Mikhail Zygar. The Kremlin army in full, or a brief history of modern Russia.
• A.Akimov, M.Kosmin, Yu.Galkina. The stories of selected St.Petersburg houses, told by their inhabitants.
• Xenophon. Cyropedia.
• A.T.Olmstead. History of the Persian Empire. <- still in process of reading
• Fernand Braudel. The Perspective of the World. <- still in process of reading

mission (non)completed

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Join the Hive Book Club community.

A.Pushkin. The Belkin stories. History of Goryukhino village. Journey to Arzrum.

These stories are classics of Russian literature ... usually everybody is get acquainted with it at school and rarely return back to it later. But the fact is that our criteria for evaluation, our understanding of texts, are based (of course!) on the lifetime experience, and over the years became adjusted. This February I was sick with covid, and spent a lot of time lying in bed at home. At the same time, my daughter was given homework to read «Belkin's stories»... I helped her with that, reading and commenting on the stories aloud. After that I didn't put the book back on a shelf, but continued and read a few more - and enjoyed this literary reading at 146%. That is, my pleasure was based not solely on the content, but on the form, the way the text was shaped... «The History of Goryukhino Village» is a harsh satire on Russian history (and on the manner of writing historical texts in general). And «Journey to Arzrum» is documentary notes about a journey to the East, during the Russian-Turkish War of 1829; a curious text.

Although, it is rather a doubt if these short stories would be of interest for a modern English-speaking reader :)

A.Pogorelsky. Lafertovskaya makovnitza. Black chicken.

Back in May an international Book Salon took place at St.Petersburg, which ofc I did not miss; leaving it empty-handed was out of the question. However, I did not have e-money with me at all, and amount of fiat in my pocket was pretty limited. (Not a single seller agreed to sell me books for HIVE :) Therefore, I faced a tough choice of choosing from three books that I liked ...

Among the alleys, I came across a nice stand presenting a huge variety of Brodsky's books. This is an outstanding author, reader and teacher, Nobel Prize winner in 1987, a figure that has so far been beyond my attention. I was better acquainted with Brodsky's famous «Recommended Reading List» than with his own poems. And finally, fate itself brought me to the counter with his books.

Joseph Brodsky. Poems (first three books of poetry).

I chose a very pleasurable edition, that embraced first three books of his poetry. This was my first book of this great XX century poet, my 1st try to get acquainted with his heritage.

The book is printed on pleasurable rough paper with a yellowish tint, and the hardcover is designed without the any picturesque follies - excellent, this was exactly what I needed! Throughout all of the June, this book accompanied me in the subway...

Perhaps, in this case I will go without recommendations - decide yourself how and when and whether you should get acquainted with Brodsky's works.

Kirill Eskov. Paladins and Saracens. ('Ballads of Borya-Robinhood' series, book 3).

The cycle consists of three separate short stories - three super action movies about the adventures of modern noble robbers. They differ in plot, and of course in scenery: the Latin American version, Moscow and global. The struggle of the special services takes place with the use of the most modern weapons and technical means of the special services, and the plot is built from selected conspiracy bricks. (In this matter, the author has never been an amateur at all, but a professional!). There are no literary heights and special philosophical depths in the novel; it pleases with the purity of the genre and a cool plot. 146% thriller fun guaranteed! I started reading from the end, and so far I have read only the third part (it just so happened), and I save the rest for later.

I will not tell the plot and spoil it, I will just mention the terrorists and the nuclear bomb, which is obliged to unleash the third world war, appear in the plot - Tom Clancy smokes nervously in the corner. And the last NB: this is exactly kind of a book that should be read as ebook, saving the paper resources of the planet and the scarce room of the bookshelves at home.

PS. Eskov is a wonderful person and an important modern scientist, teacher and author. He is also known for creating a remake, an 'alternative story' of Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'. You may check his Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirill_Eskov

Yu.Nesterenko, M.Kharitonov. Uber alles.

The idea itself of ​​a German victory in WW2 is not new («The Man in the High Castle» (1962) by Philip Dick immediately may come to your mind). The novel is very thick; it is a very detailed, even in a smallest detail, alternative world. And its not the case when a cool plot is the most important part of the book. In September 1941, as a result of a conspiracy, Hitler was killed, the Reich received sane leadership and won the war (Moscow was already occupied in 1943). The first German cosmonaut flew into space in 1953. Computers were also created in Germany... all that is pre-history background and goes BTS. Eventually the need for some modernization became obvious, and a common referendum is planned... and I won't tell the story any further so as not to spoil the intrigue -- but believe me, it is very cool. :P

I will only note, that the Reich collapsed, just like the USSR, in the same year of 1991 (which is especially symbolic) - and quite unexpectedly, without important reasons: there was no military defeat, no economic crisis ... and the book really leads its reader to consider about the historical process and some parallels :)

I'm not going to claim this novel can be swallowed up in one evening, nope; but for a connoisseur of alternative history genre (which I have long been), this is a remarkable must-read. There exist no printed edition in circulation, therefore the cover of the book is nominal.

Vladimir Babkin. «New Michael» cycle (in 6 books).

Another example of 'alternative history' genre, but a different sort, a typical 'pulp fiction'. Funny thing: I found out about it here at the blockchain, from @esperosh1ve's review. A few words about the plot: a person from nowadays falls into the past - exactly into the body of prince Mikhail, brother of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II ... exactly a couple of weeks before his renunciation and the country's slide into revolution and chaos. Sure thing he decides to replay everything and direct history along a new path - this is implied by the very laws of said genre. But it's the specific literary realization, that feels to be terrific. I am not going to list all the disadvantages of the cycle. (The author wrote six books non-stop! and I read them all during my January holidays...)

I am not going down to the bottom level and finger out all the idiotic stuff from this cycle. Let's put it this way: it is neither literary nor historical. The author 'loved' the protagonist too much, solving all the difficulties for him; thats why his character is lucky and potent of implementing easily any crazy unbearable plan. All the objective difficulties, laws of the historical process, powerful enemies in large numbers (not fools by any means!) - are simply ignored.

Of course, this 'alternative Michael' saved the Russian Empire, pacified any revolutionary ferments, won the WWI, captured the city of Constantinople, and established two empires (!) instead of an old Russian one, that was ruined in the real history ... let me turn off the tap here and stop this deluge of delirium. If you're interested in the details, you can read it yourself haha. (Although I don't think anyone gonna translate this pulp into English).

NB. Look above at the schema, which I took from A.Denikin's memoirs (General of the Russian Imperial Army, and direct participant of all the events): the balance of political powers in Russia in 1917 was pretty complex. Various political parties had their own interests and pulled intrigues in their own directions. It were only the Bolsheviks, the most cynical and unscrupulous, could cut the protracted knot after several years of war... history does not need to be simplified, it should be examined and understood. Especially important that it should be understood in details, in causal relationships and its driving forces. Nothing like that you can get from reading this.

Alternative fiction that contribute to this understanding, 'educates you' in the process of entertainment - only this one is 1st grade reading. And these books is a vulgar reading of extremely low intellectual level. I could read them myself only because I am intrested in this certain subject (and also I professional masochist reader :) No way I can recommend this to anybody.

#img #src

Kirill Eskov, Mikhail Kharitonov. Rossija (reload game)

Yes, this is the last «alternate history» on this blog :) I will note right away that the book is curious, but not for a general audience, and not even really for those who like the alternative history genre, but for those who like literary games, recognition and quote-unquote, whose taste buds revel in the nuanced flavors of such a killer postmodern cocktail. And I would categorically not recommend the book to an English-speaking reader (by the way, I'm not sure if an English translation even exists - I suspect not). I read the book in electronic form, it is freely distributed by the authors themselves, source: http://fan.lib.ru/e/eskov/rossija.shtml

The authors themselves jokingly define the book as «a historical narrative in the genre of counter-realism in five parts and 11 documents (of non-guaranteed authenticity)». The action takes place in 16th-century Moskovia, and the authors have implemented into one storyline such characters as James Bond and John Silver, Vlad Tepes and Dr.Mengele... And, of course, Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov and other characters from real Russian history. Famous quotes and memes make up almost one third part of the text. (!)

I can tell you the plot without hesitation: story begins from Tsar Ivan the Terrible's death during the Livonian War. At his deathbed, The Player (from our reality) appears to him, and offers him «to replay the match again» (thats why we see 'Reload game' an the book subtitle). All this is a pure convention... the text does not pretend to be anything other than a game.

After that, a tangled detective story follows about the secret operations of the secret services: the two intelligence services of Ivan the Terrible, struggle with three intelligence services of Moscovia, the English Intelligence Service, and several others. In literary terms, it is a hybrid of «The Spy Who Came in from the Cold» by Le Carre and «The Prince of Silver» by A.Tolstoy. Or in other words, James Bond vs Dracula.

Are you hooked?!

Yuval Harari. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Actually this was the first book I started my reading activity of 2022.. I added to my post the picture of an English paperback edition, but of course I read the Russian translation myself. From the very start I had a e-book version, which I downloaded several years ago and put to a 'cold storage' ...

When I beat it apparently by 2/3, I found a beautiful video-review of the book. 'Review' would not be the best way to call it ... rather, it was a reaction for the book and an attempt to discuss it, a mixture of criticism, recognition and delight. @Savromat - the author of said video - is a Russian historian, I adore his video lectures on Russia history, nomads, military history of antiquity etc. After watching his video review... firstly, I was happy and proud that I found this great book myself ;) and secondly, I was on fire and decided 'Sapiens' deserves to be added to my library as a paper edition. Well, after that, I quickly got a hardbound copy at Russian eBay - for a symbolic 300 or 400 rubles (very cheap! one may consider it was 'for free').

I think you can easily google more interesting and in-depth reviews of this book than mine, especially in English, but nonetheless. A few words about the book. This is indeed exactly what the title promises: the history of man as a species of ape, from prehistoric to-literate days, all the way to the age of money and capitalism. Of course, this is not a description (there are already quite a few description books). This is a synthesis, an attempt to comprehend all the scientific data collected to date and draw a coherent, consistent picture, to give explanations of what happened to a person and why exactly, how we came to the society that we have now.

I would say the book does not create new myths, but certainly destroys some old ones... very important thing is, that it embraced and processed a lot of most recent scientific theories, probably 80-90% of the stuff is truth (or getting us to it as closer as possible).

NB. I will add that - unfortunately - the book is written from anti-Marxist positions, Marx's approach explaining many phenomena of human society is completely ignored. Also, a plain non-binding label 'religion' was pasted on "communism", heh.

Recommendations: If you haven't read this book and didn't know about it, now you do. You should get a better acquaintance with it, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. A+++++

Mikhail Khodjakov. Money of the Russian Revolution: 1917-1920

Book's title in English translation was shortened: 'Civil War' piece was lost. The dramatic events of 1917-1921: destruction of the tsarist empire and the birth of the Soviet state - was the important period of modernization, and the book looks at it from financial point of view.

Official authorities, army generals, numerous central and local municipal authorities issued their own money. Money served as a kind of 'manifesto' - every petty ruler, declaring he is The Power, began emissions. This picturesque 'money-making' activity is a fascinating piece of history common folks are usually not aware of. Researchers consider about 20,000 (!) various types of banknotes were in circulation on the former empire territory at the time.

The first part of the book comprehensively covers government emissions (including the Imperial government, Duma, and the new Soviet government). Readers will find unexpected answers to questions that he might not have even had: why did the 'fascist swastika' appear on Duma banknotes, how did the Bolsheviks print tsarist money 'for the dictatorship of the proletariat', and many more.

Second part presents the White Guard governments emissions (excluding the Ukraine). Readers will educate themselves about the appearance and circulation of money in the North, Siberia and South of Russia. Your reading will turn into a fascinating lesson of the Russian history at one of most dramatic and breaking turning points.

Orders were placed in the UK, Sweden... even in the USA! In the photo above you can see the last 'Supreme Ruler' of the South of Russia, Baron Wrangel - his government's banknotes were printed in London. Banknotes below do have a characteristic recognizable design, right? this one hundred rubles banknote reminds one hell of a hundred dollars...

...because these are 'purebred Americans': printed in the USA for Provisional Government, used later by Kolchak's Siberian government (but not for long). The full story run for almost two years and was a stunning tangle of interests, contradictions, negotiations and fast steeplechase ... only little bit went into circulation, eventually. I am sorry, I'm just baiting you, but this subject simply doesn't fit in my post in full :) I can tell the story in separate post, on demand.

On the right: 25 roubles banknote; almost 'green'. And you even can recognize the Capitol / White House, right?...

#sources: patinacoins.ru, fox-notes.ru

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Ok. The last part of the book reveals the money circulation in everyday life aspects - including the food prices, how citizens managed to live the life without stable money or without any money at all (in the era of the so-called 'war communism') etc. Separate chapter is devoted to the counterfeit business and the fight against it.

The book is supplied with an alphabet names index, bibliography and references index - which means a good scientific level. The publication is well illustrated, and I cannot but decorate my post with some beautiful pics (tho I do not have actual banknotes at my disposal, to take my own pics - the photos are taken from open sources, for example, from the St.Petersburg' Money Museum).

This is how the typical illustrated layouts look like. Charming! great stuff to explore carefully (unlike the poor black and white scaled-down reproductions).

I've read the e-book version of the book (the full pdf version is available and quite googleable on the internet), but just in case I see the book in front of me, I'll be very happy to buy the paper version of the book for my library. By the way, the 1st edition of 2009 (it was published in a circulation of 1000 copies) has long been a bibliographic rarity and now costs up to $150. For 10 years, the book went through three editions (although the circulation of the second was only 80 copies - apparently, it was an upgrade for purely scientific purposes).

Recommendations: this is fantastic study, the first of its kind, an exclusive without any analogues. It is addressed to historians, economists, collectors, students interested in Russian history and economy.

Mikhail Zygar. All the Kremlin's Men, or Inside the court of Vladimir Putin, or A brief history of Modern Russia

A bestseller in Russia (more than 100,000 copies sold!), this book is a deep portrait of Putin during his President years, and a dazzling reconstruction of his courtiers machinations. It is not an ordinary bio and retelling-compilation of known sources, the book ofc is based on known published interviews, but also on some non-transparent obscure sources, gossip and backstage information, which is pro and contra at once, and certainly turns it into the author's subjective point of view on the topic.

What is much more important, the book is a large-scale and analytical portrait of the epoch, and in my opinion is definitely in Top-10 list of reading about Russia that can be recommended to the Western reader. In brief, as the editorial annotation puts it,

'All the Kremlin's Men' is a gripping narrative of an accidental king and a court out of control. Based on an unprecedented series of interviews with Vladimir Putin's inner circle, this book presents a radically different view of power and politics in Russia. The image of Putin as a strongman is dissolved. In its place is a weary figurehead buffeted -- if not controlled -- by the men who at once advise and deceive him.

Ofc I do not recommend it to everyone, but for those who are interested in the topics of Russia, modern history, political science, this is definitely a must-read. You can easily read the English translation of this book (of course I read it in the original).

Well, I draw your attention to the fact that this author has several other excellent books on important topics: «Everyone is free» (about the 1996 elections - the last time elections were free in Russia); «The Empire Must Die» (about the Russian revolutions of 1905-1917, the story of how tsarist Russia rolled to its collapse), «Gazprom: New Russian Weapon», «War and Punishment» (on Russia's Invasion of Ukraine). Most have been translated into English and many other world languages.

A few words about the author: international journalist, editor-in-chief of the 'Dozhd' TV channel, throughout all the 2000s an active observer of current processes in Russia. Zygar is an intellectual and belong to the deep thinkers. His books are good precisely because of their clarity, simple style of presentation and good language. They are written on a good knowledge of the material and numerous interviews, some conducted by the author himself. This certain book is not one of those written just to kick off some cash, or create a myth that is beneficial to someone; this is not a product of fantasy or conspiracy theories.

Resuming the book's ideas in a nutshell: the history of Russia in the 21st century is the history of Putin's changing moods against the backdrop of and under the influence of the intrigues of Putin's environment, plus the history of his rapprochement and cooling of friendship with Western leaders.

Does it worth it to have a paper edition at your shelf, huh? I'm not sure, that is up to you. But in any case, you will not lose anything from reading the e-book version. Digital versions are provided by Litres / Amazon and also available at Flibusta.

PS. If you are intrested, you also may check this Youtube review:

Recommendations:
Goodreads.com gives it a 4.3 rating, similar Russian service gives it 4.5, which is more or less correct (especially considering all the efforts involved and lack of decent analogues). Myself, I'd give it 5 stars. Just have in mind, first published in 2015, after all the dramatic events of 2022 it is a bit dated now and needs to be updated, hope author will add a few final chapters soon. Actually, I keep my breath for some certain events that will make a 'final chord' possible, the sooner -- the better.

Stories of St.Petersburg houses, told by their inhabitants

Annotation states the book collected the stories of twenty-five residential buildings in St.Petersburg built from the 1830s to the 1930s. Each chapter is dedicated to one house and consists of a historical essay, tenants memoirs, archival documents that were found, and of course photographs, old and new. The unusual synthesis of materials makes it difficult to define clearly its genre. What is this? of course, this is history, but more to it; also it is architecture, art, biography, cultural studies, local history, urban history.

In fact, this is exactly what I love: small pieces of a huge mosaic of the history of the city, the history of buildings and architecture and people. This is an opportunity to penetrate the walls, penetrate into the past and see what is impossible to know just by walking around the city and looking around.

Book content's page.

The photographs do not give an honest representation, but the book is actually a large format, quite weighty, with the help of a very small fonts a huge amount of information was packed into the pages. This book is like a solid museum! It is definitely intended for unhurried armchair reading. I should note it turned out to be extremely popular: the first edition of 2019 disappeared from the shelves in three months! Luckily it was re-printed right away.

I will not delve into the story of my personal acquaintance with it (it is long, confusing, and have some coincidences) - its a topic for a separate large post. Let me just hint we were magically attracted to each other - at first I accidentally stumbled upon the instagram of one of its authors, attracted by wonderful photographs ... soon I found out said author was writing this book, that it was work in progress ... then a few years later I suddenly encountered printed book on the table of our Godmother! One more year of waiting, and I got my own copy. I love taking it off the shelf from time to time and re-read it at random pages.

On the site labirint.ru, it has a readers rating of 9.5 (out of 10), and I surely recommend it to the Russian readers. But there is no English version, and (sorry..) I doubt it will appear. NB. Here is the link to the book at the publisher's site, in case you may need it.

'Kiropedia', by Xenophon

It was my dream to read this book for about 20 years (and probably it was rather a stupid dream, hehe). It is unlikely that you will be interested in the details; one way or another, I nailed it, closed my gestalt, and I feel fine! A book is about the Persian king Cyrus I The Great, the founder of the Great Persian Empire ... but this is by no means a historical work. This is an example of ancient Greek literature on a historical theme, and by the time the meaning of history was understood in a completely different way. Something like "teach the younger generations by telling them didactic stories... based on examples of famous historical figures." This is exactly what Xenophon does in his story about Cyrus; it has little to do with reality. So, having finished reading this book, I opened a new one - - -

'History of the Persian Empire', by A.T.Olmstead

_{Covers of various editions of the book; below is the latest Russian edition.}

We continue with the 'History' section. You know, I am obsessed with history - and especially with the Ancient World's history, as the Mediterranean and the Middle East were the cradle of civilization. Persia was an outstanding state of antiquity, and this book was my 1st attempt to study its systematized history, not just lurking between certain fragments. And I think it was kinda my mind's reaction -- it was not satisfied with 'Kyropedia', lol, the next attempt to find out the real, not the literary portrait of history.

One of my good friends, professing Zoroastrianism, addressed me to it. It's an old book (first edition date back to 1948) and nowadays probably one may find something more developed, precise... and shorter. But having the title I did not venture into more searching / choosing, found an e-book version of Russian translation and bravely stepped into it.

The Persian Empire did not last very long (especially when compared, for example, with millennial Byzantium), but the book turned out to be VERY LONG - and monstrously detailed, it doesnt feel a good thing for unprepared reader. Its not verbose, no... but (in my opinion) theres a lot of excessive information packed inside the pages. To develope the idea, check below this typical review from Goodreads:

Poorly edited (which given the death of the author before publication is to be expected), feels like the book contains all the information the author knew on Persia rather than an analysis of the Rise and Fall of the Persian Empire. The book was very hard to follow because of this and also because there didn't seem to be a grand overarching structure to the book asides from loosely chronological, with chapters containing paragraphs on evolution of Judaism, artwork, detailed review of archeological finds, Babylonian business practices and then a few short words on actual Persian Political history, this made the vast majority of the book a slog to get through. When the author actually focuses on Persian political history it is really interesting but 200 or so of the 500 pages are irrelevant.

I confess, at the moment I did not finish reading it - paused apparently at 85% (but definitely will get back to finish it... someday).

A few more important points. Persia was defeated by the Hellenes - and for a long time historians based their account of events solely on Hellene sources, i.e. on the winners point of view (and simply there were no others!). In the 20th century, archeology took a giant step forward, and this book - for the first time - bases the story on new knowledge, mainly archaeological.

I also add that I laughed like crazy, reading about all the cunning tricks of the ancient Greeks, learning their experience on how to get the better of the enemy. Now I know much more about Greek "democracy" - and I look at it with different eyes. The ancient Greeks were cunning and corrupt creatures... and the Great Empire ruined itself by increasing the tax burden to an incredible unbearable limit, killing any desire among the peoples that were part of it to fight for the Persians. Does history teach anyone? No...

Persian art was astonishing, and I really hope I could visit Sirya and Middle East and Iran myself... but it is more of a dream levels, pretty sadly. I cannot but add to my post a few pics. Below you can see the ruins of Percepolis - Achaemenid's kings capital, deleted by Alexander the Great and his warriors (ha! those bastards were calling Persians barbarians) ...

...and famous bass-reliefed royal guards.

#img src: Persepolis.nu

Recommendations: I would not recommend this book for unprepared readers not acquainted yet with Persian / Greek history. Common reader will need a simpler, refined story, without involving a huge pile of rather distant context. By the way, the book has 3.72 rating at Goodreads.com. I guess, it is quite correct.

'The Perspective of the World' by Fernand Braudel

We continue with the 'History' section. Braudel is a famous French historian of XX century, whose name remained completely unknown to me until last year. He is believed to revolutionize the historical science with a new approach: he proposed to take into account economic and geographical factors in the analysis of the historical process, considering them to be most important reasons and driving forces of the historical process.

While enriching my knowledge by watching lectures on YouTube, I first learned about Braudel last summer and got excited about reading his main works. Fortunately, they have been translated into Russian and have gone through at least three editions. Avito (Russian version of eBay) helped me with this, for less than $ 25 I bought 2 and 3 volumes of his classic study of capitalism economic history (alas, both books belong to different editions). 'The Perspective of the World' is the third volume of the cycle, yes, you may lol at me -- I started reading it right from the final part :)

#img #src
Recommendations: fantastic and very well-known title, but I cannot recommend it to a common readers interested in history and culture. This is quite a special, very detailed and specific reading... but if you already have satiated yourself with knowledge to a certain level -> then this book is for you! it is for those who dig deep, for those who are deeply obsessed with the question: 'How did poor Europe overtake the rich East and was able to rule over the whole world?'

Book sleeves sourced from amazon.com & other sites (fair use).

My posts at pinmapple.com

Thanks for the visit, and happy reading year of 2023!!