Hal Marcovitz

The events, the players, and the subsistence lifestyle of the typical Russian for over a century are clearly described. Collectivism destroyed initiative and workers even sabotaged their own equipment. Then the cold war arms race that made the economy of the USSR even more depleted prior to the country's collapse.

This succinct little book caught my eye in the children's section of the library. I found it to be a wonderfully concise history of the Soviet Union up through 2014. It starts with show more a 2-page timeline of the major events. It was an engaging read. I wish I would have had more time to give it a leisurely read. show less

I liked this review for several reasons. The illustrations were one of the best parts of this book. The pictures of events and people from the 60's really helps to get the reader involved in the informative text. The picture of moon landing, and John F. Kennedy's inauguration were my two favorites. The second reason I enjoyed this book was that it pushed the reader to think about tough issues. For example, in chapter 3, the author describes how in 1963, a Buddhist monk self-immolated to call show more attention to the corruption in Vietnam where the United States was heavily involved. This is a serious issue that the reader has to think about. This books big picture was American events and culture in the 1960's. show less

I found this book interesting and at time appalling because of what humans have been willing to do to other humans, but a majority of the book focused on current torture and the United States and I was also interested in past torture. I would have liked to have seem a little more description, but I realize this was made for young adults. In that sense the book was very informative and I liked that the last few chapters dealt with overcoming torture. This would be a useful book in a history show more classroom or in a government classroom, since so much time is focused on current torture used by the government. show less

While I'm not a huge fan, I can not help but admire Ms Pelosi. I enjoyed this light bio enough that I will read more by this author.