He shows that serfs did not actively participate in the civil war and that the abolition of serfdom was never a rebel goal. Instead, most rebels were petty gentry, professional soldiers, townsmen, and cossacks who were united in fierce opposition to tsars they believed to be illegitimate usurpers.".

"The acclaimed author of Young Stalin and Jerusalem gives readers an accessible, lively account--based in part on new archival material--of the extraordinary men and women who ruled Russia for three centuries."--NoveList.

THE BORDER WARS An uneasy peace had prevailed these last few years between the Empire of Videssos and rival Makuran. But now Makuran's King of Kings alerted his border holdings--even the small fortress where Abivard's father was lord--to prepare for barbarian raids. But Abivard himself received a warning of a different sort: an eerie prophecy of a field, a hill, and a shield shining across the sea. Before a season had turned, his father and his King lay dead upon the field of battle--the very place foreseen in the vision. Abivard hastened home to defend his family and his land. To his dismay, the most urgent danger came not from marauding tribes, or from Videssos, but from the capital. An obscure and greedy bureaucrat had captured the crown; the rightful heir had disappeared, and no mortal man would say where he might be found. Abivard's strange fate would lead him to his King, though, and on through peril to the very brink of greatness--and of doom! FIRST TIME IN PRINT

In this landmark Forgotten Realms novel, a band of heroes seeks the one ally who can help them win a deadly race against the gods: Elminster When the gods are banished from the heavens, they must travel through Faerûn in the guise of mortals, seeking to regain their powers. Malevolent Bane, power-hungry Mystra, and Helm—guardian of the heavens—all know the lost Tablets of Fate are key. When four companions, the last survivors of the Company of the Lynx, find themselves in possession of a mysterious amulet, they must escape death at the hand of Bane, god of murder. But time is running out for the heroes and the Realms. Caught in the crossfire, nature itself revolts: strange, deadly creatures stalk the land, and even magic becomes unpredictable. Now embroiled in a high-level power struggle with the fallen deities, the heroes must find the sage Elminster—the only mortal who may know the secret of the tablets. And the search begins in Shadowdale.

This study of the Russian army and how it has fared in the uncertain transitional period since independence in December 1991 provides the basis for understanding its present and potential future role in the new political developments within Russia. Following an historical overview of Russia's security agenda and an examination of the Russian//Soviet army's tradition of involvement in politics, the book then examines Russia's current security interests and the role of the army in protecting them. Geopolitical perspectives are linked to the security issues of the `Near Abroad', and to the nuclear dimension of security. Pavel K Baev then considers the question of the feasibility of political control over the Russian army. The

SELECTED AS A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK Born and raised in America, Mildred Harnack was twenty-six and living in Germany when she witnessed the meteoric rise of the Nazi party. She began holding secret meetings in her apartment, forming a small band of political activists set on helping Jews escape, denouncing Hitler and calling for revolution. When the Second World War began, she became a spy, couriering top-secret intelligence to the Allies. In this astonishing work of non-fiction, Harnack’s great-great-niece Rebecca Donner draws on extensive archival research, fusing elements of biography, political thriller and scholarly detective story to tell a powerful, epic tale of an enigmatic woman nearly erased by history.

An original and thought-provoking text, Russian and Soviet History uses noteworthy themes and important events from Russian history to spark classroom discussion. Consisting of twenty essays written by experts in each area, the book showcases current thinking on Russian cultural, political, economic, and social history from the sixteenth century to the demise of the Soviet "experiment." Informed by both archival work and published sources, this text introduces students to Russian history in an accessible and provocative format, and its eclectic essays offer readers an incomparable taste of the complexity and richness of Russia.