Daunt Books

Your Basket

Shops

News Flash

The 2013 Winners are In!



Daunt Books Children's Short Story Competition 2013

Russia & Eastern Europe

• Russia
• Ukraine
• Baltic States
• Caucasus
• Central Asian Republics

• 

  Moscow by Eyewitness Guides

  Price: £12.99    Add to Basket

  These very popular guides, with fantastic photography and mapping, give a great overview of the city which makes exploring easy. The only drawback is that having got you to a place the supplemental information is limited. This volume contains good colour coded sections on all regions of the city.

• 

  Petersburg by Andrei Bely

  Price: £10.99    Add to Basket

  A long overdue republication of Andrei Bely's novel Petersburg, a representation of the pre-revolution chaos in St Petersburg through the story of Nikolai Apollonovich, a young revolutionary who has been ordered to assassinate his own father. A classic and overwhelmingly influential piece of Russian literature described by Vladimir Nabokov as "one of the four most important works of twentieth century literature."

• 

  Ali and Nino by Kurban Said

  Price: £8.99    Add to Basket

  A magnificent novel that we recommend to our customers on a daily, nay hourly, basis. In this poignant story of thwarted young love set in Azerbaijan on the eve of WWI, Said deftly weaves a classic tale of religious division and the fight for independence. Don't miss 'The Orientalist' either, a cracking biography of the author.

• 

  The Mongols by David Morgan

  Price: £23.50    Add to Basket

  The best work on the Mongols since its first edition publication in 1986, this revised 2nd edition of David Morgans essential work is the essential starting point to learning about histories greatest land empire and dispelling the myths of the Nomadic Mongols as barbarians. A student of Middle East studies luminaries such as Anne Lambton and Bernard Lewis, Morgan guides us through the empire, from its formation on the steppes of Central Asia to its dominance, in the forms of the Golden Horde, Ilkhanate and Yuan Dynasty (in Russia, the Middle East and China respectively), of the majority of Eurasia. A must-read.

• 

  The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

  Price: £7.99    Add to Basket

  The best translation of Bulgakov's 1960s classic. Surreal, superb and utterly unique.

• 

  Red Plenty by Francis Spufford

  Price: £9.99    Add to Basket

  A fabulous book which describes the heady idealism and crashing failure of the communist economic policy in the Soviet Union. Subtle, powerful and absolutely fascinating.

• 

  Nicholas & Alexandra by Robert Massie

  Price: £10.99    Add to Basket

  As powerful now as on publication in 1967, Pulitzer Prize-winner Massie's engrossing account of the fall of the Romanovs is as rich as the finest Russian novels.

• 

  Imperium by Ryszard Kapuscinski

  Price: £8.99    Add to Basket

  Re-published shortly after his death, this classic work of reportage is founded on the lives of the ordinary Russians Kapuscinski met in the last moments of the USSR. Written with great clarity and sympathy, we cannot recommend this book highly enough - the same goes for all of this great author's oeuvre.

• 

  The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald

  Price: £7.99    Add to Basket

  An unusual, captivating and surprisingly comic novel about the troubled owner of a print workshop in pre-revolutionary Moscow.

• 

  Moscow: A Literary & Cultural History by Caroline Brooke

  Price: £12.99    Add to Basket

  This fantastic series offers rich cultural and historical accounts of the world's great cities. Here the able Brooke explores the way in which Moscow has reinvented itself across history, and the fascination it has exerted over the writers, artists and composers who have made the city their home.

• 

  St Petersburg by Companion Guide

  Price: £17.99    Add to Basket

  A brilliant cultural guide to St Petersburg with well-researched, well-written notes on the art, architecture, history and culture of the city.

• 

  Lost and Found in Russia by Susan Richards

  Price: £10.99    Add to Basket

  A brilliant account of contemporary Russia since 1992. Susan Richards meets a series of women from Siberia and the Volga River region whose lives are changing in a post-Communist world.

• 

  The Trans-Siberian Railway: A Traveller's Anthology by Deborah Manley

  Price: £12.99    Add to Basket

  Accounts of this romantic, epic journey from the likes of Paul Theroux, Rudolf Nureyev and the author herself as she imparts the history of the railway line and her own journey along it.

• 

  Ukraine by Bradt Guides

  Price: £15.99    Add to Basket

  The second edition of Andrew Evan's excellent guide, to our mind far superior to the Lonely Planet equivalent.

• 

  Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

  Price: £8.99    Add to Basket

  Based on the author's own quest to locate his Ukrainian ancestors, this is a stupendously inventive novel, hilarious and moving and utterly unique. Highly recommended.

• 

  Borderland by Anna Reid

  Price: £12.99    Add to Basket

  A contemporary classic, Reid's book tells the fascinating history of Ukraine through the eyes of its inhabitants, blended beautifully with her own observations. An insightful, intelligent book, essential for anyone visiting this unique country.

• 

  The Georgian Feast by D. Goldstein

  Price: £15.95    Add to Basket

  A wonderful book on the cultural and cuisine of Georgia. Includes a history of its culinary traditions followed by easy, delicious recipes.

• 

  Armenia by Bradt

  Price: £14.99    Add to Basket

  Absolutely crucial for any Armenian trip.

• 

  Ararat by Frank Westerman

  Price: £8.99    Add to Basket

  A wonderful travelogue, part history and part philosophy, of the Dutch authors journey to the summit of Mount Ararat. Westerman explores the political and social history of this mountain which sits on the borders of Turkey, Iran and Armenia as well as his own loss of religious belief.

• 

  Time Out Baku by Time Out

  Price: £12.99    Add to Basket

  City guide experts Time Out have produced their first Caucasian Guide. Baku, the historic Caspian port capital of Azerbaijan is described in full glory, with a generous selection of colour photography and illustration. Time Out is the guide of choice for city breaks, giving you historical context as well as the most up-to-date hotel, restaurant and bar listings, as well as top-quality maps and travel information.

• 

  Azerbaijan: with Excursion to Georgia by Trailblazer Guides

  Price: £14.99    Add to Basket

  The only guide to Azerbaijan, and thankfully a very good one. Includes excursions to Georgia.

• 

  Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy Maclean

  Price: £9.99    Add to Basket

  A classic true adventure story. Maclean was a witty and shrewd observer and one not averse to an ill-advised escapade, all of which makes this account of his mid-20th Century Central Asian antics highly entertaining.

• 

  Forever War by Dexter Filkins

  Price: £8.99    Add to Basket

  Award-winning New York Times correspondent Dexter Filkins provides a visceral understanding of the wars in Afghanistan and Iran. An astonishing piece of unflinching and compassionate journalism which seeks to portray the human experience of war.

• 

  Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes

  Price: £14.99    Add to Basket

  Figes's masterpiece evokes in breathtaking detail the lives of those who have shaped their nation. No Russian history is richer.

• 

  The Angel of Grozny by Anne Seierstad

  Price: £7.99    Add to Basket

  A fascinating book which explores the three Russian Chechen wars since 1994, the last two of which were largely unreported by the Western press. Vitally informative, Seierstad reveals the gruesome devastation wreaked upon the Chechens by a Russian army whose soldiers were often no more than boys.