One of the most important conflicts of the 20th century; the Russian Civil War was the struggle that led to the formation of the Soviet Union. Following the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government on 7 November 1917; the All-Russian Congress of Soviets met and handed over power to the Soviet Council of People's Commissars. Immediately forces began to assemble in opposition to the Bolshevik regime; and these became known as the Whites. This title examines the armour that they had at their disposal throughout the course of the war. It was a varied collection including British and French vehicles and; perhaps most famously; the armoured trains that enabled the Whites to dominate much of Siberia.
#551508 in Books 2015-02-03 2015-02-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.73 x .57 x 5.12l; .81 #File Name: 1784780405192 pages
Review
25 of 29 people found the following review helpful. A knowledgeable author rushes a book on ISIS into print.By Kindle CustomerAuthor Patrick Cockburn is clearly very knowledgeable on this subject; having worked as a journalist in the Middle East for 36 years. 'The Rise of the Islamic State' contains a lot of very useful information to help people understand what is going on with the rise of this new (or maybe more accurately-reborn) jihadist group. Its clear that the mess that is the Middle East defies simplistic western meddling and proposed solutions. We in America continue to be our own worst enemy in our attempts to "nation build" and so on. In that respect; it was worth reading.I have to strongly qualify any recommendation; however; and suggest that interested readers survey reviews of other books on this subject before choosing this one. My concerns are similar to those of other reviewers:1. The book is poorly organized to the point of being confusing at times. The story would perhaps have benefitted from being organized chronologically; rather than by subjects which messily overlapped.2. The book is distressingly repetitive. I think this is due to poor organization and to the following:3. The book reads like it was a series of news articles that were then hurriedly mashed together to create a book. The seeming rushed nature was undoubtedly caused by the need to get the book into the public's hands quickly while the topic is very hot and current.4. Author Cockburn pontificates a lot!5. There is some; but not nearly enough background information on the major groups that make up this unbelievably messy conflict.Patrick Cockburn is clearly a capable expert and writer on this extremely important group and associated Middle East issues. I hope he will either clean up this book or take more time and write a more comprehensive and clear follow-up book.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. fabulous and mandatoryBy Paulo ReimannFor a such a short book and recent event; the book is fantastic; stunning and a must read. Hope the history changes and the story becomes different.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A must read to understand conflicts inside the Islamic worldBy Daniele VecchiVery interesting and easy to read. The book is written with a journalist style so a nice mix of analysis and description of events. Probably this is also the limit of the book itself. Certain parts would have deserved deeper analysis at the expense of easy reading.
