Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on
bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
The Haunted Land, Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism
by Tina Rosenberg
In this groundbreaking book, a journalist reports on how the newly democratized people of East Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic have confronted the horrors of their former governments.
Book of Clouds
by Chloe Aridjis
Chloe Aridjis's beautifully evocative novel is set in today's Berlin; a young Mexican woman flees her family only to find a city that cannot escape its past.
Sunlight at Midnight: St. Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia
by W. Bruce Lincoln
A wonderfully written, informative portrait of St. Petersburg, focusing on the city's development in the 18th and 19th centuries as Russia's "window on the West." Highly recommended for travelers with an interest in the character and significance of the city and its monuments.
The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank
Daily life captured in a diary format of a young Jewish girl hiding from persecution in Nazi occupied Holland.
Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
A fictional tale, of a poor Russian man's premeditated murder and the ensuing misery to follow. Dostoyevsky largely draws upon his own experiences of poverty in St. Petersburg, painting a vivid picture of social and psychological causes of crimes.
Northern Europe Scandinavia Map
by Freytag & Berndt
A colorful shaded relief map showing the Baltic region from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg and Hammerfest at a scale of 1:2,000,000.
Insight Guide Scandinavia
by Insight Guides
From Denmark to Sweden, Norway and Finland, this guide introduces the region with outstanding color maps and photographs.
Berlin: Imagine a City
by Rory MacLean
A city devastated by Allied bombs, divided by a Wall, then reunited and reborn, Berlin today resonates with the echo of lives lived, dreams realised and evils executed. No other city has repeatedly been so powerful and fallen so low. And few other cities have been so shaped and defined by individual imaginations. Through vivid portraits spanning five centuries, Rory MacLean reveals the varied and rich history of Berlin, from its brightest to its darkest moments. We encounter an ambitious prostitute refashioning herself as a princess, a Scottish mercenary fighting for the Prussian Army, Marlene Dietrich flaunting her sexuality and Hitler fantasising about the mega-city Germania. The result is a uniquely imaginative biography of one of the world's most volatile yet creative cities.
The Baltic, A History
by Michael North
In his erudite history of the "Nordic Mediterranean," North covers over 1,000 years of trade, politics, architecture, cultural exchange and conflict in the Baltic. His main point: the Baltic's coastal nations have always been an interconnected economic unit.
Land of the Firebird, The Beauty of Old Russia
by Suzanne Massie
Massie traces both minuscule details and larger movements in pre-revolutionary Russian art, literature and daily life in this affectionate overview of 19th-century palaces, courts and culture.