Echoes of a Native Land: Two Centuries of a Russian Village

Extremely readable social/cultural history of Russia beginning at the time of tsarist rule in late 19th century and ending with perestroika and the Russian-mafia rule of today. After reading this book, I have a much deeper awareness of the events and ideas that shaped the Russian people.

The author brought the people of the village of Koltsovo to life with vivid written portraits of his ancestors, as well as the peasant villagers and their families. Clearly, the author spent an enormous amount of time and effort in entering these people's lives and hearing their stories not only with a journalist's sense of objectivity, but also a human sense of empathy and compassion.