Finding East Europe History Books

Posted by Kerry Kubilius May 20, 2007

While it's a great feeling to walk into your favorite commercial bookstore and purchase the freshly-bound hardbacks and the new, easily-portable paperbacks that feature information about different aspects of Eastern European history - from the war in Bosnia to the fate of the Romanovs - the selection is often limited, overpriced, and somewhat disappointing. You may find some nice surprises, like Orlando Fige's Natasha's Dance or the now-classic Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West, but to really sink your teeth into Eastern European history, you're going to have to be a little more adventuresome.

Library Book Sales

Cast-off books, no longer published, as well as the orphaned collections of library patrons are fated to mingle at library book sales. You will also have to mingle with them, and their years' worth of grime and suspicious-looking stains, but in their midst, you might stumble upon gems. One of my latest finds is a book published in the 1980s called A La Russe: A Cookbook of Russian Hospitality. Admittedly, this book was the inspiration for the article Dining A La Russe, but the book offers much more than classic Eastern European recipes. Not only does it give insight into historical dining in Russia, but it also discusses how citizens of Russia entertained during Soviet times. Darra Goldstein, the author, perhaps never meant for this book to be a history book, but the information contained within is valuable both for the cook and the student of Eastern European history.

Used Book Stores

You may like to pay full price for books that will occupy respected places on your shelves, but don't forget to seek out oldies-but-goodies in used bookstores. Years ago, a friend of mine gifted me with a signed copy of Barbara Armonas' Leave Your Tears in Moscow. You won't find this book in any bookstore selling only new books, let alone one signed by the author. Not only does this book hold special significance because of the thoughfulness behind the gift, but it's a special peak into Eastern European life that is unique to the time it was written.

Online Bookstores

No, I don't mean Amazon and B&N, though those are good for new releases and reviews. I mean online bookstores like abebooks.com and powells.com, where you can find academic publications by the hundreds, esoteric volumes about aspects of Eastern European history that you've never heard of (but want to find more about), and collections of essays from respected scholars, both historic and contemporary. From Pushkin to Pasternak, the information offered by watered-down web sources or even your university textbooks doesn't compare to the education you can gain by purchases resulting from careful keyword searches.