Faces of a Nation: The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 1917-1991

Readers should not take this handsome volume for an extended photo-essay because of its large trim size. Instead, it is two books in one: a detailed history of the Soviet Union, by the Von Laues, and a collection of photos by Soviet photographer Dmitri Baltermants (1912-1990). Baltermants, who began his work in WWII, became an official Kremlin photographer and also a photo editor for the popular magazine Ogonyok. Though the extensive text tends to dominate the photos, some of Baltermants's war images have today become icons of the titanic struggle on the eastern front between Nazis and Soviets. Also of note here are closeups of various Soviet leaders, including several of Stalin. Theodore H. Von Laue is professor emeritus of European history at Clark University; Angela Von Laue is his research assistant and editor; Tatiana Baltermants is the photographer's daughter. (Oct.)