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Rating: 
Summary: Siberian epic
Review: A pity that this book is out of print. A very intersting survey of the conquest of Siberia. Chilly and chilling even in its writing. No real glorious epic here although lots of gumption and bravery tales of the daring folks that settled Siberia. Just a tale of woe, but a woe that built a nation. Also a few questions about the mentality of a people still little known who forged itself in such hardship and near animalistic conditions. A must read to understand the influence of Siberia in today's Russia. One objection, many editing errors that cost it a star.
Rating:
Summary: Siberian epic
Review: A pity that this book is out of print. A very intersting survey of the conquest of Siberia. Chilly and chilling even in its writing. No real glorious epic here although lots of gumption and bravery tales of the daring folks that settled Siberia. Just a tale of woe, but a woe that built a nation. Also a few questions about the mentality of a people still little known who forged itself in such hardship and near animalistic conditions. A must read to understand the influence of Siberia in today's Russia. One objection, many editing errors that cost it a star.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy read of a canned history of Siberia
Review: I bought this book for a couple of bucks in a used bookstore and read it on a plane. Bobrick's writing is clear and easy to read. He provides what I see as a standard history of the Russian conquest, and Soviet re-conquest, of Siberia. There are no footnotes or even a bibliography, so I can't figure out why he claims some things that I found questionable. I don't think he 'got it wrong', but it seems like the book is mostl cribbed from other English-language works and maybe a couple of the standard Russian-language histories. So, it's good for light non-fiction, but not for students or anyone serious about their history reading.
Rating: 
Summary: The Land of Sables and Gulags
Review: Siberia evokes a host of mental images for any Westerner, most of them negative. Bobrick goes completely beyond the superficial "Gulag" images to reveal a vast and romantic land. He masterfully tells the story of how Russian pioneers battled the Khan tribes to conquer this weird country, river by river, valley by valley. Disasters abounded - particularly the near-extermination of the sable - but Siberia also gave us epic stories of exploration, culminating in the journeys of the great Danish explorer, Bering. Bobrick is as adept at telling their story as he is the stories of the settlers, many of them exiles or convicts, and their new life. There are also chapters devoted to "Russian America," i.e. Alaska, and other Pacific escapades such as the San Francisco base. We learn of border clashes with the Chinese over the Amur, and, later, the Russo-Japanese War, in which the Trans-Siberian railway played a pivotal role. Finally, Bobrick reveals in unflinching detail the Gulag system. This book is pure adventure and is surely deserves to be reissued.
Rating:
Summary: The Land of Sables and Gulags
Review: Siberia evokes a host of mental images for any Westerner, most of them negative. Bobrick goes completely beyond the superficial "Gulag" images to reveal a vast and romantic land. He masterfully tells the story of how Russian pioneers battled the Khan tribes to conquer this weird country, river by river, valley by valley. Disasters abounded - particularly the near-extermination of the sable - but Siberia also gave us epic stories of exploration, culminating in the journeys of the great Danish explorer, Bering. Bobrick is as adept at telling their story as he is the stories of the settlers, many of them exiles or convicts, and their new life. There are also chapters devoted to "Russian America," i.e. Alaska, and other Pacific escapades such as the San Francisco base. We learn of border clashes with the Chinese over the Amur, and, later, the Russo-Japanese War, in which the Trans-Siberian railway played a pivotal role. Finally, Bobrick reveals in unflinching detail the Gulag system. This book is pure adventure and is surely deserves to be reissued.
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