Written and illustrated by an award-winning artist and translated into English for the first time; Igort’s The Ukrainian and Russian Notebooks is a collection of two harrowing works of graphic nonfiction about life under Russian foreign rule.After spending two years in Ukraine and Russia; collecting the stories of the survivors and witnesses to Soviet rule; masterful Italian graphic novelist Igort was compelled to illuminate two shadowy moments in recent history: the Ukraine famine and the assassination of a Russian journalist. Now he brings those stories to new life with in-depth reporting and deep compassion. In The Russian Notebooks; Igort investigates the murder of award-winning journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkoyskaya. Anna spoke out frequently against the Second Chechen War; criticizing Vladimir Putin. For her work; she was detained; poisoned; and ultimately murdered. Igort follows in her tracks; detailing Anna’s assassination and the stories of abuse; murder; abduction; and torture that Russia was so desperate to censor. In The Ukrainian Notebooks; Igort reaches further back in history and illustrates the events of the 1932 Holodomor. Little known outside of the Ukraine; the Holodomor was a government-sanctioned famine; a peacetime atrocity during Stalin’s rule that killed anywhere from 1.8 to twelve million ethnic Ukrainians. Told through interviews with the people who lived through it; Igort paints a harrowing picture of hunger and cruelty under Soviet rule. With elegant brush strokes and a stark color palette; Igort has transcribed the words and emotions of his subjects; revealing their intelligence; humanity; and honesty—and exposing the secret world of the former USSR.
#5845513 in Books imusti 2015-06-23 2015-06-23Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.75 x .75 x 5.00l; 1.41 #File Name: 1444787527544 pagesHodder Stoughton
Review
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Disappointing Oral History of D-Day and its AftermathBy Dr. Laurence RawSeventy years have now passed since the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944; as time passes; so fewer and fewer people remain alive to tell the tale of what happened. This is where oral histories prove so valuable; as they provide a living record of what people thought at the time the historical event happened; and what their feelings might be once the event had passed. Max Arthur's THE SILENT DAY offers a collection of testimonies; culled from a variety of sources; about the preparations; implementation; and aftermath of D-Day. We learn a lot about the ways in which American and Canadian troops coped with the experience of living in an alien culture; and how the British established relationships with them. We hear about the secrecy of preparation; no one knew when the actual day of the invasion was going to be until the day beforehand. And we also understand how the foreign troops' rapid departure from their British bases caused many Britons - especially children - considerable heartache. The savagery of the conflict is also recalled; and the experience of many casualties. Every aspect of the event is thoroughly covered. Then why is the book so disappointing in tone? It has the feeling of being thrown together; without any overarching framework: as a historian; Arthur provides little linkage between each chapter; preferring instead to rely on the testimonies to do the interpretive work for themselves. He has also been highly selective in his choice of material: we hear a lot about the way people reacted in the south and southwest of England to the D-Day event; but little or nothing about people in other areas. This selectivity would be permissable; if only Arthur had explained the reasons for his approach in an introductory chapter. In the acknowledgments he pays tribute to his research assistants; who have apparently done a lot of the research work on his behalf; from the way this book has been constructed; it seems as if they are the unsung heroes of this volume; while Arthur himself has taken all the credit for doing very little.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. History was made on D-Day: A Report from the People on the Home FrontBy JILL LONGHOMThis was personal - I was only nine years old; but witnessed the convoys of military vehicles; heading west from my town on the south coast of England A rose was thrown from one to my mother and me; I will never forget that.The book is a compilation of memories by the people; civilian and military; who witnessed the preparations and the final departure for the beaches of Normandy. It is gut-wrenching at times to read what they went through - the reports are from every walk of life.I have learnt a great deal from this book.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Gripping and thought-provoking read.By MSmithI have read a number of Max Arthur’s oral histories; in particular Forgotten Voices of the Great War.His book on the Battle of Britain; The Last of the Few; I read in 2010; so I was delighted to read his latest work; The Silent Day.It really captures the atmosphere in the months before D-Day; and the uncertainty and fears that prevailed in the UK.It is a great read as well as being a hugely informative account of both military and civilian personal experiences at a critical time in our history.
