Research Book Reviews

[Dave]

All-

After reading the posts here in this section, I thought it would be of value to post up some book reviews that I wrote up a long time ago. I think this might answer some questions that I've seen in the postings. Of course, not everyone will agree with my reviews, but it might be interesting for others. I'd be interested in hearing other opinions about these books, as well as other books that I haven't run across yet.

--Dave

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"THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO SOVIET ORDERS AND MEDALS" by Paul McDaniel and Paul Schmitt (Historical Research LLC, 1997, hb, 409 pages, retail price: $95) If there could be a 'classic single source document' for collecting Soviet orders and medals, this is it. For the beginner or the advanced collector, this book is a MUST HAVE in their collection. If you collect, or are thinking of collecting Soviet orders and medals, and don't have one of these, the time to buy one is now! Many full color photos of all variation of awards, and an excellent thorough text make this book an enjoyable read as well as a great reference book. I personally read mine on a regular basis.

"ORDERS AND MEDALS OF THE USSR 1918-1991" by Sergey S. Shishov and Mikhail Muzalevsky (VORON Publishing, 2000, hb, two volumes: Volume One- 337 pages, Volume Two- 408 pages, limited run of 1000 copies, retail price- approx $200) This is an OUTSTANDING set of books! If you consider yourself a 'serious' collector, or (like myself) simply enjoy collecting Soviet awards, this is an invaluable set of books to have on your shelf. Since I acquired my set, rarely has a day gone by that I haven't read through parts of it, and have always discovered new things! The book has in-depth descriptions of the Soviet awards, as well as full color photos and more. Text is in both Russian with (mostly) full translations into English (the decrees creating new awards aren't translated, which is a bummer!) The best part of the books are the Appendixes. These have all sorts of 'great' tid-bits of award trivia (who was awarded the most awards, who had double Suvorovs, etc.) Also, there are several sections on presentation awards to units (with the documents.) One really neat thing about the set is that they show not only the 'issue' documents, but also the rare variations of documents and the temporary certificates as well. Additionally, each numbered award has the range of award numbers and approximate dates issued. The set is published in Singapore, so they avoid the normal problems of Russian printing quality control. The only drawback is the photographs, they aren't the most professional, but hey- for the information available in the book, that's a small price to pay!

"SOVIET ORDERS" or "ORDERS OF THE USSR" by Anatolii Kutsenko (ASPEKT Publishing, 1994, hb, 301 pages, limited run of 1000 copies, retail price- approx $100) This is the 'classic' work of Anatolii Kutsenko, which set the standard for all other reference books of the time. This was 'the book' back before the "Comprehensive Guide..." came on the scene. Even with that book though, this book still had something to offer- the dates on which specific serial numbers of Soviet awards were presented. The pictures aren't the greatest, the text is mostly in Russian (the translated English parts are about half of the Russian text) but it is still a 'classic' work in the collecting of Soviet orders. Copies are very hard to find, it took me several months to find my copy (number 0905) back in early 1996. I have seen one other for sale since then, and I bought it (and later sold it, of course!) If you can find a copy, BUY IT. It's a great book, and will serve well in any collector's collection.

"Medals of the USSR" by A. Volodin and N. Merlai (Pechatni Dvor Publishing, 1997, hb, 302 pages, limited run of 3000 copies, retail price- approx $50) This book (I believe) was intended to be a companion volume to the above "Orders of the USSR". This book overcame a lot of the problems that book had, with better photos (including many photos of hanging rings) and an equal Russian-English translation. It has some very good points, to include the listing of all double Heroes of the Soviet Union and the above mentioned hanging ring photos. Drawbacks include the fact that the Appendixes, although very interesting, are not translated into English. This is a good book to have in your collection, though if you own either of the first two books on this page, you can probably live without it.

The "AVERS" Series by Vladimir Krivtsov (First published in 1993, latest edition published 2001, retail price- from $10-$35) AVERS (before they were numbered, this was the old paperback one) was my first reference book in the realm of Soviet collecting. I purchased it in Moscow, as I did several years later AVERS No 1 (from the author, in fact) These books aren't the world's greatest if you are looking for specific variations, really great photos, and that sort of thing. However, if you are a collector of Soviet awards, and occasionally come across badges, jetons, and the like that aren't covered in the books above, these books are a MUST HAVE! I can't tell you the number of times that I've pulled out my copies of AVERS to look up an Imperial badge, an early Soviet pin, and the like. If they minted it, it's probably in one of these books! For the price, I don't see any reason that a collector shouldn't have at least one of the latest copies on their shelf, just for additional reference.