Anna Karenina  •  Leo Tolstoy  •  Larissa Volokhonsky  •  Richa Pevear LITERATURE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 838 PAGES Tolstoy's tragic love story of the beautiful, but married Anna, and her passionate affair with the dashing Count Vronsky. An adulterous relationship in late 19th Century Russia is not without its harsh consequences -- Anna loses her family and is ostracized by those around her in a social downfall. Interwoven with the story of Konstantin Levin and Princess Kitty Shcerbatsky, this epic work is a timeless novel of desire, weakness, and the search for love. (RUS81, $16.00)
Battle of the Baltic, The Wars 1918-1945  •  Robert Jackson HISTORY •  2007 •  HARD COVER  • 224 PAGES A well written, illustrated survey of the underexamined clashes that took place around the Baltic Sea during and between the first and second World Wars. (BLT34, $39.95)
Bradt Guide Latvia  •  Chris Baister  •  Chris Patrick GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES A comprehensive guide for the traveler from the popular and informative British series. (BLT20, $23.99)
Bradt Guide Lithuania  •  Gordon McLachlan GUIDEBOOK •  2005 •  PAPER  • 288 PAGES A practical guide in the popular Bradt series, featuring information on Lithuanian art, history and culture, as well as good travel information. (BLT21, $20.95)
Bradt Travel Guide Estonia  •  Neil Taylor GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 288 PAGES This convenient guide features an overview of the history and culture of Estonia along with a few color photographs and many maps. (BLT28, $23.99)
Carmen and Other Stories  •  Prosper Merimee  •  Nicholas Jotcham LITERATURE •  1999 •  PAPER  • 361 PAGES A sophisticated Parisian, Merimee preferred tales of high drama, banditry, outlaws and outcasts set in exotic locales, preferably in the past. This collection of nine stories includes: Carmen, the source for the opera; Columba, set in Corsica; the Etruscan Vase, one of his Parisian tales; The Storming of the Redoubt, involving Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign; and Lokis, set in the forests of Medieval Lithuania. (FRN201, $13.95)
Clara's Grand Tour, Travels With a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-century Europe  •  Glynis Ridley HISTORY •  2006 •  PAPER  • 240 PAGES The entertaining history of a most unusual eighteenth-century European celebrity. Clara the Indian rhinoceros was brought to Europe in 1741 by the Dutch sea captain Douwemout Van der Meer, and toured for seventeen years, to the delight of heads of state such as Louis XV and Frederick the Great. A marvelous and unique look at the introduction of Eastern wildlife into the Western world. (FRN536, $12.00)
The Corrections  •  Jonathan Franzen LITERATURE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 592 PAGES It's really that good -- a dazzling novel of life and love and family and holidays that follows the peregrinations of the Lamberts -- father, mother and offspring -- from New York to Philadelphia to Vilnius (Lithuania). A big, heart wrenching, comic book (and pretty dead on about Eastern European politics). (EUR122, $15.00)
Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century and After  •  R. J. Crampton HISTORY •  1997 •  PAPER  • 526 PAGES A well-written, insightful scholarly country-by-county history of modern Eastern Europe. (EUR273, $42.95)
Footprint Tallinn  •  Clare Thomson GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES Nuts-and-bolts information, plus an overview of history and culture, geared for the independent traveler. (BLT27, $12.95)
The Gothic Enterprise, A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral  •  Robert A. Scott ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2005 •  PAPER  • 307 PAGES Scott, whose interest in the history of cathedrals began when he first saw the magnificent Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Salisbury, England, takes his reader on a historical, architectural and sociological tour of the magnificent spires and stained-glass windows that dot the landscape of Europe. It's an accessible, personable overview. (EUR190, $17.95)
Here Is Where We Meet  •  John Berger LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES This novel weaves a portrait of several European countries through encounters with the dead, from the narrator's mother, whom he discovers on a park bench in Lisbon, to a childhood friend wandering a market in Krakow. "The dead don't stay where they are buried," the protagonist's mother tells him, and this becomes the mantra for this most unusual journey through Europe's history and people. (EUR189, $14.00)
The Kalevala  •  Keith Bosley LITERATURE •  1999 •  PAPER  • 679 PAGES This national epic of Finland, based on ancient heroic poetry, was a rallying flag for national aspirations as Finland struggled to break away from Russia in the 19th century. So important is this great literary monument that Finland celebrates February 28 as Kalevala day. Incorporating incantation and humor and including a role for magic, this classic informs some of Sibelius' greatest music. 1999 marks the 150th anniversary of the first edition of the poem. (SCN14, $15.95)
Lonely Planet Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania  •  Lonely Planet GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 416 PAGES In its hallmark style, this practical guide to the Baltic nations by Lonely Planet features maps, a good overview of culture, history and language, and much nuts-and-bolts information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. With color photographs and excellent travel information. (BLT05, $25.99)
Lonely Planet Scandinavian Europe  •  Glenda Bendure  •  Ned Friary GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 508 PAGES An excellent practical guide to Scandinavian countries, as well as St. Petersburg and Tallinn, featuring a good overview of culture, history and nature, and plenty of information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. (SCN01, $24.99)
Mammals of Europe  •  Priscilla Barrett  •  David W. MacDonald FIELD GUIDE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 320 PAGES Published by Princeton, this is a field guide to land and marine mammals throughout Europe, both endemic and introduced. With more than 600 color illustrations of over 200 mammals, it's a comprehensive handbook, with detailed descriptions, range maps and commentary on behavior. (FG61, $34.95)
Michelin Green Guide Scandinavia and Finland  •  Michelin Travel Publications GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 526 PAGES A survey of the cities, villages and sites of Scandinavia in the classic Michelin style, featuring brief descriptions of all the major attractions, and with excellent full-color city maps. Organized alphabetically for easy reference, (SCN10, $21.95)
Northern Europe Map  •  Freytag & Berndt MAP A colorful shaded relief map of Scandinavia and the Baltic States at a scale of 1:2,000,000. It shows the entire Baltic Sea region. (EUR19, $11.95)
Rick Steves' French, Italian & German Phrase Book & Dictionary  •  Rick Steves LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  2003 •  PAPER  • 400 PAGES A compact phrase book for travelers, organized thematically and with a brief dictionary. French, German and Italian phrases are side-by-side on the page so that you can pick and choose depending on the situation. This is no dry litany but instead peppered with humor and Rick Steves' insider insight into how to break the ice and make friends around the world. (EUR142, $9.95)
To Begin Where I Am, The Selected Prose of Czeslaw Milosz  •  Czeslaw Milosz  •  Madeline G. Levine  •  Bogdana Carpenter LITERATURE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 272 PAGES Culled from a lifetime's worth of publications, these essays by the Lithuanian-born Polish poet and Nobel laureate Milosz address the Polish experience at home and abroad in the 20th century. There couldn't be a better national spokesperson than this brilliant writer, who has taught Slavic Languages and Literature at UC Berkeley since the 1950s. As a sample of Milosz's prose, these selections cover everything from Polish poetry to modern philosophy to personal memoirs of life in Wilno, Warsaw, Paris and California. (PLD25, $16.00)
Travelers' Tales, A Woman's Europe  •  Marybeth Bond  •  Mary Morris ANTHOLOGY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 298 PAGES This entertaining collection depicts Europe through the eyes of a diverse group of women writers, including Frances Mayes, Jan Morris and Mary Morris. These humorous and well-written true stories capture the misadventures, discoveries and slices of life that the continent (and travel!) has to offer. (EUR160, $17.95)