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The Historical Dictionary of the Vikings traces Viking activity in Europe, North America, and Asia for over three centuries. During this period people from Scandinavia used their longships to launch lightning raids upon their European neighbors, to colonize new lands in the east and west, and to exchange Scandinavian furs for eastern wine and spices and Arab silver. The Viking age also saw significant changes at home in Scandinavia - kings extended their power, Norse paganism lost ground to chri...

A rich and fascinating exploration of the Volga River and its vital place in Russian history-named a Best Book of 2021 by the Financial Times "A memorable journey into the heart of Russian social, political, and cultural history."-Jennifer Eremeeva, Moscow Times "'Without the Volga, there would be no Russia.' The final words of Janet Hartley's book sound sweeping. But its 400 pages make the case powerfully."-The Economist The longest river in Europe, the Volga stretches more than three and a...

Although the name Caucasus has been around for some 2000 years, and may suggest unity and coherence, the region these days is best known for the ethnic and religious divides resulting in recurrent bloody conflicts between the various minorities and the post-Soviet independent states. Geographically, the Caucasus has traditionally been a buffer between Russia, Turkey and Iran. Part Russian Federation, part Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the area has a tradition of fast-shifting partnerships, of...

The duality of maritime family life, the relationship between reconstruction and discourse and the symbolic status of the seafarer's wife are at the core of this book, which brings maritime women's experiences to the fore, widening the perspective of maritime history. Based on the collected life stories of seafarers' wives from the Aland Islands in Baltic Sea, Hanna Hagmark-Cooper draws attention to the cyclical nature of maritime family life and to the seafarers' wives' perception of leading tw...

This insightful volume offers a radical reassessment of the infamous "Gulag Archipelago" by exploring the history of Vorkuta, an arctic coal-mining outpost originally established in the 1930s as a prison camp complex. Author Alan Barenberg's eye-opening study reveals Vorkuta as an active urban center with a substantial nonprisoner population where the borders separating camp and city were contested and permeable, enabling prisoners to establish social connections that would eventually aid them i...

The Baltics are about to be thrust onto the world stage. With a 'belligerent' Vladimir Putin to their east (and 'expansionist' NATO to their west), Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are increasingly the subject of unsettling headlines in both Western and Russian media. But how real are these fears, subject as they are to media embellishment, qualification and denial by both Russia and the West? What do they mean for those living in the Baltics - and for the world? Based on her exte...

This is the first attempt to redress the injustice done to the memory of German minorities by the popular equation of 'Lebensraum' and Nazism; minorities, many of whom chose to be neighbours rather than enemies and who over time peacefully shared with other nationalities the territorial space east of the Reich. Their borderland experiences, particularly in the Baltic region, the historic interface between East and West, are all the more relevant as Hitler's regime recedes into the past and Europ...

George Frederick 'Fred' Dallas wrote 137 letters to his family and friends while on active service in the Crimea. A company commander in the 46th Foot, his first letters reflect a soldier's enthusiasm for the 'brilliant affair' that awaits the British Army overseas. Within weeks of arriving, excitement turns to disbelief at the continual misjudgement of his leaders. Poor preparation and divided command exposed the troops to surprise attacks from 'The Russe', and to the appalling conditions of th...

Authoritarian Laughter explores the political history of the satire and humor magazine Broom published in Soviet Lithuania. Artists, writers, and journalists were required to create state-sponsored Soviet humor and serve the Communist Party after Lithuania was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940. Neringa Klumbytė investigates official attempts to shape citizens into Soviet subjects and engage them through a culture of popular humor. Broom was multidirectional—it both facilitated Communi...

Offering a rare glimpse into the lives of those who lived through the German occupation of Poland's capital, this important ethnography explores how elderly residents of Warsaw recollect, narrate, and commemorate their experiences, thus showing how the cultural legacies of the occupation reveal themselves in contemporary Polish society. The individuals who are the focus of this study, all long-time residents of the Warsaw neighborhood Zoliborz, responded to the daily deprivations and brutality o...

Some trips are chosen, others choose you. When tragedy strikes Bill Carter's life he finds himself drawn to a war zone. In the modern heart of darkness, the besieged city of Sarajevo, we meet a man rebuilding the ruins of his former self in the most unlikely of places. Carter joins a maverick aid organization, 'The Serious Road Trip', and dodges snipers to deliver food and supplies to those the UN can't reach. He makes friends with the artistic community of Sarajevo and fights alongside them for...

The DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is your indispensable guide to this beautiful part of the world. The fully updated guide includes unique cutaways, floorplans and reconstructions of the must-see sites, plus street-by-street maps of all the fascinating cities and towns. The new-look guide is also packed with photographs and illustrations leading you straight to the best attractions on offer. The uniquely visual DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuani...