Product Description
Iordan Chimet (November 18, 1924 ? May 23, 2006) was a Romanian poet, children's writer and essayist, whose work was inspired by Surrealism and Onirism. He is also known as a memoirist, theater, art and film critic, book publisher and translator. Chimet, who was an opponent of totalitarianism in general and of the Communist regime in particular, was persecuted by the latter as a dissident, and lived much of his life in obscurity. His experience as an employee of the cooperative society Centrocoop also made him one of the first professional copywriters in his country. The poems, fantasy works and fairy tales he authored, although largely ignored locally upon being published, have since drawn acclaim for their accomplished style, and are considered by many unique in Romanian literature. They explored the themes of innocence and melancholy, and have themselves been seen as a venue for a discreet advocacy of disobedience. Chimet was also the author of critical essays on Latin American studies and Western or popular culture, and a publisher of anthologies on some of the major themes in Romanian society. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Cluj-Napoca Bánffy Palace, Palace of Culture, Brukenthal National Museum, Zambaccian Museum, National Museum of Art of Romania, National Museum of Romanian History, Museum of Art Collections, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Theodor Pallady Museum. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 33. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Bánffy Castle is a baroque building of the 18th century in Cluj-Napoca, designed by the German architect Johann Eberhard Blaumann. Built between 1774 and 1775 it is considered the most representative for the baroque style of Transylvania. The first owner of the palace was György Bánffy 17461822), the governor of Transylvania. Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife Caroline Augusta of Bavaria were hosted in the palace during their visit in Kolozsvár, between 18 and 27 August 1817. This was the first occasion when a ruler from the Habsburg family visited the city. Franz Joseph I of Austria was also the guest of the palace between 2-4. August 1852 and 2224 September 1887. In February 1951 the council of the city decided to empty the palace to establish an Art Museum there; the works were finished in the summer of 1954. The museum was opened in the restored palace on 30. December 1965. The cinema occupying the inner yard of the palace was demolished in 1974. The floor area of the palace is 66×48 m, its inner yard is 26×26 m. The wings on the sides include one row of rooms while the front and back wing includes two rows. The yard is surrounded by a portico at the second-floor level. The facade is decorated with statues of Mars, Minerva, Apollo, Diana, Hercules, Perseus, and the coat of arms of the Bánffy family with gryphons, without crown. In the median risalit there is a gate, above this is a loggia with seven pillars. Bánffy family coat of armsSince 1...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1231267 ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Astra National Museum Complex, Palace of Culture, Brukenthal National Museum, Zambaccian Museum, National Museum of Art of Romania, National Museum of Romanian History. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 29. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: "ASTRA" National Museum Complex (Romanian: ) is a museum complex in Sibiu, Romania, which gathers under the same authority four ethnology and civilisation museums in the city, a series of laboratories for conservation and research, and a documentation centre. It is the successor of the ASTRA museum that has existed in the city since 1905. Its modern life started with the opening of The Museum of Folk Technology now The "ASTRA" Museum of the Traditional Folk Civilization in 1963. The Romanian cultural association ASTRA decided in 1897 to establish a museum of Romanian civilisation as a "shelter for keeping the past". The museum was opened in 1905, under the supervision of Cornel Diaconovici, in what is today the ASTRA Palace in Sibiu, built through a public subscription with the specific purpose of creating a museum. In 1929, in Cluj, an open air Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania was created and in 1932 the Village Museum was opened in Bucharest by Dimitrie Gusti. In 1940, after the loss of Northern Transylvania to Hungary due to the Second Vienna Award, a plan was proposed to establish a new ethnographic museum in Sibiu to replace the one in Cluj. World War II and the new communist government of Romania delayed the establishment of the new museum by 20 years, in which period the old ASTRA Museum was closed due to ideological reasons. Due to the work of Cornel Irimie in the late 1950s and early '60s, the Romanian Academy decided to pursue the project of establishing the Sibiu open-air museum, having folk technology as its main theme. T...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=4383051 ... Read more

Product Description
Bucharest. History of Bucharest, Geography of Romania, Crime in Bucharest, Demographics of Romania, Economy of Bucharest, Transport in Bucharest, Culture of Romania, University of Bucharest, List of lakes in Bucharest, List of buildings in Bucharest ... Read more

Product Description
Stalinism for All Seasons is the first comprehensive history of the Romanian Communist Party (RCP). It traces the origins of the once-tiny, clandestine revolutionary organization in the 1920s through the years of national power from 1944 to 1989 to the post-1989 metamorphoses of its members. Vladimir Tismaneanu uses documents that he discovered while working in the RCP archives in Bucharest in the mid-1990s and interviews with many of the party members from the Ceau_escu and Gheorghiu-Dej eras to tell the absorbing story of how RCP members came to power as exponents of Moscow and succeeded in turning themselves into champions of autonomy. Tismaneanu analyzes both the main events in Romanian communism and the role of significant personalities in the party's history. Situating the rise and fall of Romanian communism within the world revolutionary movement, Stalinism for All Seasons shows that the history of communism in one country can illuminate the development of communism in the twentieth century.

Tismaneanu discusses significant moments in the final six decades of world communism, including the Spanish Civil War, World War II, the Comintern, Stalin and the Bolshevization of the Eastern European communist parties, and de-Stalinization. He examines important events in international affairs during Nicolae Ceau_escu's rule (1965-1989)--particularly Romania's role in the Sino-Soviet conflict, the Middle East, European communism, and European security. Finally, Tismaneanu identifies the RCP's descendants among Romania's current political parties and personalities. Embracing a long and complex period, this book will interest readers of twentieth-century history and anyone curious about communism and postcommunism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

the seminal work on Romanian communism
For anyone interested in Romania's political history during the twentieth-century, Professor Tismaneanu's "Stalinism for All Seasons" is the seminal work on the subject.
Clearly written, solidly researched, informative and engaging, "Stalinism for all Seasons" can be included among the best works of political history, alongside
Pipes' works on Lenin, Conquest's books on Stalin and Bullock's studies of Hitler. If you're interested in finding out about the evolution and demise of Romanian
communism, there is no better source than "Stalinism for all Seasons". I highly recommend this book for all readers interested in Romanian political history and in the history of
totalitarianism.

A stunning tour de force on political pathology and dystopia
After "Stalinism for All Seasons" it must be truly depressing to consider writing books of political sociology on the topic of the communist grand narrative. This is not only because Tismaneanu's opus, the outcome of a lifelong fascination with the topic, is so well-stocked with quality historical data (his archival research,and access to unique resources can hardly be replicated), but also because the author is a genuine maestro of both analytical insight and of a captivating writing style.
It is astonishing how he managed to strike the right balance between a sociological-political excursus of great analytical accuracy with a novel-like narrative that stretches over almost a century and whose charm ruins your work agenda for several days.
Although the book's focus is the case of the pariah Romanian Communist Party, Tismaneanu immerses this case in the wider phenomenon of world communism. The reader is stunned to discover, en premiere,the constitution of informal transnational party networks and narratives that spanned from Vietnam to Greece, and Romania. Particularly fascinating are Tismaneanu's foray into mechanisms of Leninist and Stalinist manipulation of the (rather excessively)romanticized world communism" of the 20s and 30s, as well as his treatment of the role of memory, charisma, nationalism and aesthetics in the ascension, ossification and in the decay of the party.
We have access to the operationalization of general issues of interest for political scientists such as puzzling hybridizations of mechanisms for political power conquest and maintenance, the crucial role of personalities (that escapes facile research designs accomodation), how resources are distributed and conflits are settled in opaque political machines.
For those interested in how birth pathologies impact the subsequent development of radical political projects that end up reaching the lands of dystopia, this read is undoubtedly set to be on list of classics.

Briefly � this multi-layer book is a masterpiece ...
Briefly - this multi-layer book is a masterpiece of modern political science. This history of Romanian Communism is one particular case speaking crystal-clear about global Communism . Due to Vladimir Tismaneanu and his history ofRomanian Communism we have an accurate, a splendid x-rayofCommunism in the world.
-----------------
More than that this book is as a wonderful political novel - written by Vladimir Tismaneanu with genius and, believe me, plenty offine, ironicalhumor.

-----------------
Therefore, reading this work, you can easily re-make historically and politically the whole nightmare of the Communist era, in Romania, and in Europe, and world-wide as well. Yes - a tragic nightmare. A disaster.
-----------------
Vladimir Tismaneanu presents to us, with knowledge and skills of a master in laser-surgery,the anatomy and the functions of this Monster , Communism -alas ! somehow still alive .His lesson is a fundamental lesson about humankind's fatal errors and disasters ... which we do not have the right to repeat and re-live. At least, because you have to admit this terrible reality: nazism = communism = Islamic terrorism. At last but not at least, considering this irrefutable truth - I warmly recommend you the lesson of Vladimir Tismaneanu, his work as a unique book of our modern times. A healing book !
-----------------
And, for this lesson, we definitely have to be grateful,from the bottom of our hearts, to Vladimir Tismaneanu - who is practically the genuine creator of the modern school of Romanian political science.

seminal work on Romanian communism
Professor Tismaneanu, one of the sharpest analysts in the field of Eastern European politics, has written what is no doubt the definitive comprehensive study of the Romanian Communist Party. Brilliantly written and painstakingly researched over many years, the work will be appreciated by anybody interested in Eastern European politics or the stalinist system and its various deviations.

A solid political science work, the prose is lively and the entire work, complete with the cast of characters at the end, reminds me more of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury than other blander political analyses.

A superb book. ... Read more

Product Description
Over 150 recipes, including the specialty dishes of Romania's top chefs, are intermingled with fables, poetry, photos and charming illustrations, making this book a genuine treasury of both Romanian cuisine and culture.Also includes an appendix of Romanian wines and an index in Romanian and English.

Here is a real taste of both Old World and modern Romanian culture in a unique book that combines more than 140 tasty traditional recipes with enchanting examples of Romania's folklore, humor, art, poetry, and proverbs.A wealth of archival material provides a glimpse into the 4,000-year-old history of the Romanian people and their Roman ancestry.This comprehensive and well-organized guide to Romanian cuisine contains recipes for many classic favorites including Mamalinga, a polenta-style cornmeal, Eggplant Salad, Fish Zacusca, Mititei Sausages (The Wee Ones), and Pan-fried Pork with Polenta.Savor the tastes of one of Europe's heartiest and most varied culinary traditions! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Very disappointed...
Does not have that many recipes....non that my Romanian husband has tried or liked.There should be a better description about this book.It gives more the history of certain happenings in Romanian culture than anything else.Don't buy if you're looking for a Romanian cookbook!

Great
Love this book! No, it does not contain pictures but neither did my grandmother's ancient cookbooks that are falling apart now. I love this new book that I can use daily and make changes to it according to my family's traditions.

Sorely disappointed
This book is a HUGE disappointment. Recipes are complicated and in metric. Unusual ingredients. Better recipes and directions when you Google Romanian Foods AT NO COST

great book, taught me how to cook
This book is amazing! I used to be a lousy cook who never "went beyond" (lol) french fries, but this book taught me how to make Romanian soups, steaks, the wee ones "mititei" and so on. It tells you how to choose and where to find the equivalent ingredients in the US, when the original Romanian ingredients are not sold here.
Also, it gives you an insight of the Romanian culinary culture through some stories, poems and even proverbs related to it.
It is indeed a great book, not just an ordinary cookbook!

Gotta love Romania
Worth a try even if you're not madly in love with a Romanian (as I am)... ... Read more

Product Description
The political hypocrisy and personal horrors of one of the most repressive anti-abortion regimes in history came to the world's attention soon after the fall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Photographs of orphans with vacant eyes, sad faces, and wasted bodies circled the globe, as did alarming maternal mortality statistics and heart-breaking details of a devastating infant AIDS epidemic. Gail Kligman's chilling ethnography--of the state and of the politics of reproduction--is the first in-depth examination of this extreme case of political intervention into the most intimate aspects of everyday life.
Ceausescu's reproductive policies, among which the banning of abortion was central, affected the physical and emotional well-being not only of individual men, women, children, and families but also of society as a whole. Sexuality, intimacy, and fertility control were fraught with fear, which permeated daily life and took a heavy moral toll as lying and dissimulation transformed both individuals and the state. This powerful study is based on moving interviews with women and physicians as well as on documentary and archival material. In addition to discussing the social implications and human costs of restrictive reproductive legislation, Kligman explores the means by which reproductive issues become embedded in national and international agendas. She concludes with a review of the lessons the rest of the world can learn from Romania's tragic experience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Interesting Personal Stories
This book speaks of the heartaches of scores of women due to a misguided 1966 Decree that was meant to create a new generation of socialists by removing birth control from the options available to the people. Although this is a book about women and their special struggles, as a man I found it interesting. My wife is Romanian and can corroborate many of the stories of these women to be true (or at least reasonable). But I'm also grateful that Gail Kligman didn't dwell on the sensationalism that the popular Western press loved to print following the Decree. In fact, she denies much of the fanciful stuff written to sell newspapers. There weren't masses of perverted bosses standing there watching gynecological exams. But the author does stress the heart-wrenching, personal stories of women who were forced to deal with this foolish Decree 770, many times to the detriment of their health or life.

It could happen again
Although this is a book about a specific place during a specific period, what makes it so chilling is how it describes a descent of little steps into a nightmare world.For those who may even have lived through it thinking "it wasn't that bad," this book provides the opportunity to take a step back and realize "it was worse than we even imagined."Ms. Kligman's account is clarion call for the importance of taking a stand in every society in order to preserve the values we hold dear, but which are in fact as fragile as the weakest among us.

Vai, Alexandru, n-a fost atat de rau!
I'm an American woman living and working in Romania, and I have to disagree with Alexandru.From all I hear from my friends both male and female, this book isn't off-target at all.It IS true that many people sayCeasescu's policies didn't affect their lives "all that much",but the people who did have unwanted pregnancies or were harassed becausethey didn't have enough children were and are real people.I enjoyed thisbook and would recommend it to anyone interested in reproductive issues --in either Romania or the U.S.

Unprofessionally written, innacurate statistics
None ofthedata are believable! The statistics are made up and it lacks objectivity as if written by an emotional and nervous wreck. Originally from Romania, I can testify that data on births and abortion could not andcannot yet be obtained, also the reasoning behind data is consequentlyfalse. It is a collection offalse assumption. Too bad something like this(of substandard quality) has been published!

Unprofessionally written, innacurate statistics
None ofthedata are believable! The statistics are made up and it lacks objectivity as if written by an emotional and nervous wreck. Originally from Romania, I can testify that data on births and abortion could not andcannot yet be obtained, also the reasoning behind data is consequentlyfalse. It is a collection offalse assumption. Too bad something like this(of substandard quality) has been published! ... Read more

Product Description

The Carpatho-Rusyns are central European people, numbering approximately 1.2 million, who live within the borders of five states: Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, and Hungary. They have never had a state of their own. Disregarded and suppressed by most governments that ruled over them in the past, the Rusyn people have had to fight to retain their identity, culture, and language. This work is an attempt to redress the loss of historical memory and knowledge caused by decades of repression by investigating and explaining the historical past and culture of Rusyns in all countries where they live, including immigrant communities in the United States, Canada, and Yugoslavia.

The encyclopedia contains over 1,100 alphabetically arranged entries in areas such as individuals, organizations, political parties, periodicals, historical terms, geographic regions, historical events, and on themes such as architecture, archaeology, cinema, communism, ethnography, geneaology, geography and economy, historiography, history, the internet, language, literature, nationalism, printing and publishing, and radio and television. The first encyclopedic work on Rusyns to appear in English, this book has laready proven to be an indispensable resource for European and Slavic studies specialists, and for general readers interested in international relations and nationalism.

The Revised and Expanded Edition has been fully updated: New data and references have been provided for most existing entries ans many entirely new entries have been added.

Product Description
In "The Wooden Tongue Speaks" exiled Romanian author Bogdan Tiganov takes us on a journey to the interior of his home town of Braila in a collection of short stories and poetry. In this post cold-war collection, we discover the social, religious and political issues facing a people just now emerging into a world of contradictions and realities.

... Read more

Product Description
Paul Celan, one of the greatest poets of the post-Holocaust decades, strove to utter the unspeakable. In his literary struggle to respond to the Holocaust, he exploded literary traditions and, out of their residue, created a new poetry. ... Read more

Product Description
The story begins with a grandfather who heroically escaped from Russia by swimming the Pruth River to Romania-or did he? Then there are stories of another grandfather who kept a lifelong mistress; grandmothers who were ignored except in the kitchen; migrations legal and illegal from Eastern Europe to Canada to California; racketeers on one side of the family and Communists on the other; and a West Coast adolescence in the McCarthy years. All of these (mostly true) stories form a Jewish family's history, a tale of dislocation and assimilation. But in the hands of award-winning historian Robert Rosenstone, they become much more. The fragments of memory so beautifully preserved in The Man Who Swam into History add unforgettable, human characters to the now familiar story of the Jewish diaspora in the twentieth century. This combination memoir/short story collection recounts the Rosenstone family's passage from Romania to America. Robert Rosenstone tells the story not as a single, linear narrative, but through "tales, sequences, windows, moments, and fragments resurrected from the lives of three generations in my two parental families, set in five countries on two continents over the period of almost a century." This more literary and personal approach allows Rosenstone's relatives to emerge as distinct personalities, voices who quarrel and gossip, share their dreams and fears, and maintain the ties of a loving, if eccentric, family. Among the genre of "coming to America" tales, The Man Who Swam into History is a work of unique vision, one that both records and reconstructs the past even as it continuously-and humorously-questions the truth of its own assertions. ... Read more

Product Description
In most countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the fall of communism opened up the possibility for individuals to acquire land. Based on Katherine Verdery’s extensive fieldwork between 1990 and 2001, The Vanishing Hectare explores the importance of land and land ownership to the people of one Transylvanian community, Aurel Vlaicu. Verdery traces how collectivized land was transformed into private property, how land was valued, what the new owners were able to do with it, and what it signified to each of the different groups vying for land rights.

Verdery tells this story about transforming socialist property forms in a global context, showing the fruitfulness of conceptualizing property as a political symbol, as a complex of social relations among people and things, and as a process of assigning value. This book is a window on rural life after socialism but it also provides a framework for assessing the neo-liberal economic policies that have prevailed elsewhere, such as in Latin America. Verdery shows how the trajectory of property after socialism was deeply conditioned by the forms property took in socialism itself; this is in contrast to the image of a "tabula rasa" that governed much thinking about post-socialist property reform. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Great Book
I agree with the previous reviewer! Verdery's latest book makes the market transition studies of Nee, Keister, and Guthrie look obsolete, simplistic, uninformed, off-the mark, and BORING. (David Stark is somewhat better than the names listed above so I cut him some slack.) A must-read for students of social change AND policy makers! Great work!!!!

A definite account of postsocialism
To: Doug Guthrie, Lisa Keister, and David Stark: Please, spare publishing houses of your crap. Read this book and try to learn something from it! ... Read more