Harriet1910 Posted January 30, 2012 #1 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I propose that we together make a list of history based fiction books and films that are interesting to read/see prior to a Northern Europe and Baltic cruise. I have started to make it, capturing some recommendations from this thread about Best Guides http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1370224, some from this wonderful thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/archive/index.php/t-1197504.html and adding some books/films that I myself have read/seen and can recommend. Hope it may be interesting and looking forward to your input. Russia: "Nicholas and Alexandra" by Robert K. Massie "The Life of a Russian Palace" by Suzanne Massie Natasha’s Dance (A Cultural History of Russia) by Orlando Figes War and Peace, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Crime and Punishment, "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Debra Dean's Madonnas of Leningrad "The Amber Room" by Steve Berry The Amber Room: The Fate of the World's Greatest Lost Treasure (Paperback) by Catherine Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy (a non-fiction, historical account of the famous room) Steve Berry's 'The Romanov Prophecy Edward Rutherfurd's "Russka The Seige by Helen Dunmore City of Thieves by David Benioff The Jewel of Saint Petersburg, The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall. Russian Revolution: Ten Days That Shook the World Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak Films: "Burned by Sun" "Anna Karenina"(the last one, directed by Sergey Soloviev) "The Russian Ark" Doctor Zhivago 1965 and 2002 Sweden: Books Astrid Lindgren: Karlsson-on-the-Roof and other books by her Jan Guillou: Birth of the Kingdom, The Road to Jerusalem, The Templar Knight August Strindberg “The Red Room” "Astrid and Veronika" by Linda Olsson "The Prize", a novel by Irving Wallace (1963) Films "The Prize" starring Paul Newman Denmark Books by Hans Christian Andersen Hamlet by Shakespeare WWII "Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True" by Brigid Pasulka "The Rape of Europa" about Hitler's thefts from most of the great museums of Europe Breaking of Eggs by Jim Powell –a novel that looks at Europe from 1939 forward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornishpastyman1 Posted January 30, 2012 #2 Share Posted January 30, 2012 (edited) I propose that we together make a list of history based fiction books and films that are interesting to read/see prior to a Northern Europe and Baltic cruise. I have started to make it, capturing some recommendations from this thread about Best Guides http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1370224, some from this wonderful thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/archive/index.php/t-1197504.html and adding some books/films that I myself have read/seen and can recommend. Hope it may be interesting and looking forward to your input. Many have strongly recommended the film 'The Singing Revolution' for Tallinn. It's a bit left-field, and not really what you asked for, but if it's any interest here are the short videos, with some history, that I made from my Baltic cruise in 2010 : Copenhagen Tallinn St Petersburg The Fountains of Peterhof The Catherine Palace at Pushkin Peter and Paul Fortress/Cathedral St Isaac's Cathedral Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood The Winter Palace/Hermitage State Museum Helsinki Suomenlinna (Fortress of Finland) at Helsinki Stockholm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NweRnGqZ1k Royal Warship Vasa & the Vasa Museum at Stockholm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x45l1WMZOXA Berlin - general sights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCdvsq9lJJ8 The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wgke23Hfuw The Berlin Wall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZCwlKiiZrs On the roof of the Reichstag http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o57Fb88tVTM Edited January 30, 2012 by Cornishpastyman1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberta Quilter Posted January 31, 2012 #3 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'm currently reading Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie, which is not included in your list. It's long but I'm enjoying it. Next up will be Nicholas & Alexandra that you listed in your post. If it's as long as Catherine, I hope I'll be finished by the time we leave in June!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet1910 Posted February 1, 2012 Author #4 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Next up will be Nicholas & Alexandra that you listed in your post. If it's as long as Catherine, I hope I'll be finished by the time we leave in June!!! :):) I've added Catherine to my list. Thank you Cornishpastyman1, excellent, outstanding videos, thank you for sharing them. Special thanks for the film about Estonia. Why is the list of books and films about Russia almost as long as the list about all other countries together I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirmurphy Posted February 1, 2012 #5 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Peter the Great by Robert Massie The Romanovs - The Final Chapter by Robert Massie (follows Nicholas and Alexandra) I will second The Singing Revolution documentary about Tallinn. Really fascinating to learn more about the fall of the USSR in someplace other than Berlin. If anyone likes historical fiction - The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great by Eva Stachniak was just released. I think I'm going to read that while on our cruise. I'm reading the Robert Massie bio of Catherine the Great and while long, it is very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World Gallery Posted February 1, 2012 #6 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Where can I get a copy of Singing Revolution? I have checked at our library but they do not have it. Would Netflix have it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauer-kraut Posted February 2, 2012 #7 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Where can I get a copy of Singing Revolution? I have checked at our library but they do not have it. Would Netflix have it? Check online for your local PBS afilliate, it was shown on PBS so you might look there as well. Won't cost you that way. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirmurphy Posted February 2, 2012 #8 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Where can I get a copy of Singing Revolution? I have checked at our library but they do not have it. Would Netflix have it? I got the DVD from Amazon, but I think you can rent it and watch on your computer from them as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet1910 Posted February 13, 2012 Author #9 Share Posted February 13, 2012 To add to films on Sweden: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (based on "Millenium" by Stieg Larsson) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFO-F/A Posted March 6, 2012 #10 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Where can I get a copy of Singing Revolution? I have checked at our library but they do not have it. Would Netflix have it? Yes, netflix has The Singing Revolution. I highly recommend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jklc123 Posted March 6, 2012 #11 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Thanks for the list. I highly recommend "Echoes of a Native Land: Two Centuries of a Russian Village," written by Pulitzer prize winner & NY Times foreign correspondent Serge Schmemann. It traces the lives of his Russian forebears in a small village outside Moscow. I'm now enjoying "Russka" as a way to get an overview of Russian history in a fictional setting. Also enjoyed the author's "Sarum" years ago; same format about Salisbury, England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
top of the world Posted March 6, 2012 #12 Share Posted March 6, 2012 In looking at one of the roll calls for the Baltics, I found out that John Lawrence who does the port talks on the Emerald Princess has a DVD. It is $20 with $5 shipping and handling. We have received it and really enjoy all the information he has to share. You can find it under johnlawrencecd.com. If for some reason the website gets deleted, you can find the web page by googling John Lawrence Baltic. I can thoroughly recommend it. We borrowed the Singing Revolution through our inter-library loans. Very informative and a good introduction for the visit to Tallinn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet1910 Posted April 18, 2012 Author #13 Share Posted April 18, 2012 summary/update Russia: "The Life of a Russian Palace" by Suzanne Massie Peter the Great by Robert Massie Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie "Nicholas and Alexandra" by Robert K. Massie The Romanovs - The Final Chapter by Robert Massie The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak Natasha’s Dance (A Cultural History of Russia) by Orlando Figes "Echoes of a Native Land: Two Centuries of a Russian Village," by Serge Schmemann. War and Peace, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Crime and Punishment, "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Debra Dean's Madonnas of Leningrad "The Amber Room" by Steve Berry The Amber Room: The Fate of the World's Greatest Lost Treasure (Paperback) by Catherine Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy (a non-fiction, historical account of the famous room) The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry Russka by Edward Rutherfurd's The Seige by Helen Dunmore City of Thieves by David Benioff The Jewel of Saint Petersburg, The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall. How The Russian Snow Maiden Helped Santa Claus by Gail Buyske and Natasha Voronina (children) Russian Revolution: Ten Days That Shook the World Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak Films: "Burned by Sun" "Anna Karenina"(the last one, directed by Sergey Soloviev) "The Russian Ark" Doctor Zhivago 1965 and 2002 Estonia: Films: The Singing Revolution Sweden: Books Astrid Lindgren: Karlsson-on-the-Roof and other books by her Jan Guillou: Birth of the Kingdom, The Road to Jerusalem, The Templar Knight August Strindberg “The Red Room” "Astrid and Veronika" by Linda Olsson "The Prize", a novel by Irving Wallace (1963) Films "The Prize" starring Paul Newman The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (based on "Millenium" by Stieg Larsson) Denmark Books by Hans Christian Andersen Hamlet by Shakespeare WWII "Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True" by Brigid Pasulka "The Rape of Europa" about Hitler's thefts from most of the great museums of Europe Breaking of Eggs by Jim Powell –a novel that looks at Europe from 1939 forward The Innocent by Ian McEwan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet1910 Posted April 19, 2012 Author #14 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Germany “The Innocent” by Ian McEwan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tessa74 Posted April 19, 2012 #15 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Echoes From the Dead by Johan Theorin a Swedish author translated into English. This is a suspense novel set in Oland, Sweden which is not visited by any cruise ship but it gives a good flavor of the island. It reminds me a lot of Newfoundland in Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jklc123 Posted April 21, 2012 #16 Share Posted April 21, 2012 "Child 44" by Tom Rob Smith. Chilling murder mystery set during Stalin's era of terror and paranoia. Fiction but based on a true story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet1910 Posted May 16, 2012 Author #17 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Ambitious goals! Having read just a few books of the list I’m setting off for the long awaited journey. Ready to catch up on-site and happy with the upcoming holyday… ready, steady, go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskanb Posted June 18, 2012 #18 Share Posted June 18, 2012 (edited) So glad this list has been started--I am currently reading Leon Uris "Armageddon: A Novel of Berlin", and have just finished "City of Shadows" (Berlin) by Ariana Franklin. Both are highly fictional but good reads! Think I will read some of Hans Christian Andersen's tales and maybe "Russka"! Edited June 18, 2012 by Alaskanb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet1910 Posted September 12, 2012 Author #19 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Planning for your 2020 Baltic cruise? Start reading now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornfreenowexpensive Posted September 12, 2012 #20 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Really! I read for a year and it still wasn't enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TLCOhio Posted September 12, 2012 #21 Share Posted September 12, 2012 I'm currently reading Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie, which is not included in your list. It's long but I'm enjoying it. Just started reading this Catherine the Great book last week and am super loving it!! The writer is so good and the life/character of Catherine the Great is totally fascinating and very interesting. I am about 200 pages into it right now. THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 102,235 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at: http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalVic Posted November 3, 2012 #22 Share Posted November 3, 2012 I've just bought 'city-pick St Petersburg' in anticipation of my first Baltic cruise next June - it's a great compilation that includes excerpts about the city from writers as diverse as Nabokov, Helen Dunmore and Malcolm Bradbury. Highly recommended for dipping into, as it offers such a lively range of perspectives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskanb Posted November 3, 2012 #23 Share Posted November 3, 2012 Here is a link to a Romanov family tree--very helpful when reading Catherine the Great by Massie. http://www.edstephan.org/Rulers/romanov.html These two novels are from the recommended readings for the Road Scholar: Baltic Explorer: http://www.roadscholar.org/programs/pd_printFull.asp?DId=1-5VS74V Set Sail for Murder Author: Carolyn G. Hart Description: Retired newspaper reporter Henrietta O' Dwyer Collins, Henrie O to her friends, joins her dear old friend Jimmy Lennox on a Baltic cruise in this seventh installment in the cozy series. The Letter of Marque Author: Patrick O'Brian Description: The 12th (and perhaps the most satisfying) of O'Brian's series combines the personal and geopolitical as Aubrey comes to Maturin's rescue in the Baltics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anubi Posted November 6, 2012 #24 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I recently read "In the Garden of the Beast" by Erik Larson. Its an account of the American Ambassador to Germany in the early 30's during the rise of Hitler. Very interesting and rather chilling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desdichado62 Posted November 6, 2012 #25 Share Posted November 6, 2012 (edited) Obviously if you want to read some good Swedish literature,read the Emigrants series. Especially of you live in the areas around the Great Lakes and the upper midwest of the USA. Those novels were also made into movies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emigrants_%28novels%29 Also Per Anders Fogelström have written a bunch of Stockholm related novels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_Anders_Fogelstr%C3%B6m Edited November 6, 2012 by Desdichado62 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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