Book Review | Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is one of those cases that will haunt me forever. I so badly want to know what happened on that cold February night in 1959 on Dead Mountain to send nine young adults who were experienced hikers cutting their way out of their tents, half-clothed, mostly shoeless, into the freezing night. When they did not return home at the expected time, eventually a search party would find their bodies about a mile from their campsite. Some had varying sign of violent injuries (including 3rd degree burns, singed hair, chunks of flesh missing, etc), the majority died of hypothermia; some alone, some together, but all 100% dead with elevated levels of radiation on clothing.

It's not as though Russia would be very forthcoming with any information or details, so unfortunately I think everything we already know is all we will ever have. There is quite a bit of research here and the author uses contemporary sources - including journals and photos of the hikers. There is also some access to government records, but probably not everything. The author even retraced the path taken over sixty years ago, and interviewed those connected to the case - including the only survivor, Yuri Yudin, who had to turn back due to a medical issue.

There are numerous theories about what occurred on the mountain that night, that vary from logical to outlandish, and everything in between. Some insist there was an avalanche or some kind of violent wind patterns that created some kind of massive snow tornado but more dangerous. Then there are those who beleve it had to do with aliens (it's almost never aliens). Some think those native to the region were responsible for the deaths, or that some kind of wild animal attacked. Perhaps they witnessed something they were not meant to, or Russia was testing some new secret weapon and they got caught in the crossfire, and so on and so on. I can only imgine how the never-ending theories frustrated and hurt their families, in addition to the crushing weight of simply not knowing.

The author moves back and forth in time, telling their story through the journals and photos left behind in 1959, and then in the years he spent researching and retracing their final steps. The journals and photos were crucial for the hikers; all but one were students at the Ural Polytechnic Institute and members of the school's hiking club. Daily they documented their activities, which would help prove they were prepared and qualified for their Grade III certs. While nothing in the journals or photos show anything amiss or give any clues as to what killed them, we see them in their last days, enjoying themselves and having fun even as they're working extremely hard.

I would not necessarly call this the 'untold' story of the events, though his theory is the first time I've come across this idea; like some of the other logical ones, it makes sense. After considering everything known about the mountain and the hikers, Eichar posits that infrasound (low-frequeny sound waves) generated by the curve of the mountains and the high winds as they passed over is the culprit. These sound waves, according to his theory, could have caused physical discomfort and led to irrational behavior due to the mental distress and feelings of panic.

In the last chapter the author presents his theory in narrative form, describing what the events of the evening could have looked like that led to nine healthy, strong, young people disappearing into the night, completely unprepared for the elements. I feel like this was written in a respectful way, despite it being speculation.

In the end, all we know is that eight men and two women started the journey to earn their Grade III hiking certification. Yudin survived only because he could not continue the hike due to a sciatica flare-up. As painful as sciatic nerves are when they are raging, this ultimately saved his life. The other nine continued on, and were never seen alive again.

Highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It will surprise no one that everything we think we know about Vikings women dates back to those darn Victorians and their ability to completely Victorian-ize everything.

The island of Birka, not far from Stockholm, is home to a once-busy Viking village, meant to control trade routes around northern Scandinavia. It also happens to be home to hundreds of Viking graves. One grave in particular is of most interest to the author, that of a Viking warrior that was first excavated in 1878. Given the items recovered from the grave and the high-status burial provided, for over one hundred years it has been assumed (by dudes who could not conceive of any other option) that the Birka Warrior was male.

Not so, says the 2017 DNA test.

And from there the author is off and running on a fantastical journey across Europe, imagining what life must have been like for this warrior who lived over hundreds of years ago.

The author does a fantastic job using archaeology, history, and the Norse legends and sagas to bring to light a much more accurate picture of how Vikings women lived, fought, and died. In imagining what life might have been like for this warrior, to whom she gives the name Hervor, the author is able to shed more light on the women of the age who were far more independent than the Victorians would have you believe.

Using the many varieties of sources previously mentioned, the author constructs an example of what life might have been like for young Hervor. Each chapter begins with a segment of Hervor's "story" - a story which sees her cross paths with other formidable women of the age, from Queen Gunnhild to Queen Olga of Kyiv.

While the author has fictionalized what life might have been like for this Birka warrior, each chapter delves deeply into various aspects of life for the real Viking women who lived so long ago. There is extensive research here and the author clearly knows her stuff. The author's knowledge of the sagas and old Norse stories is a wonderful addition to the historical record.

NetGalley ARC | The Lost Pianos of Siberia

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting with this one. I saw 'Siberia' and the cover and requested it without another thought. But as a result, I am equally as unsure about how to review this book.

The author's journey through Siberia on a quest to seek out these long lost treasures. Not exactly what one thinks about when they hear 'Siberia'. Instead one thinks of the Gulag, exile, and mass, unmarked graves.

The author was on the hunt for a different kind of history altogether - though Russian history itself is a main character. You can't have the histories of these instruments in such a bleak place without context of what makes the juxtaposition so beautiful at times.

Yet even when the travel is about pianos, at the same time it really isn't. There is just as much, and more, about the people and their times, culture, lives. The book is basically in chronological order from pre-Soviet, to Soviet, to post-Soviet. From there it is also divided up by region as the author treks to and fro across the massive continent. A stop in Yekaterinburg where the Romanovs came to their violent end is also on the agenda as she travels through the region - and it came to be that these parts I was almost most interested in than the piano search. These slices of life that people are carved out, those who willingly live here, I could not get enough of those passages. I am a Minnesota girl through and through, I will take winter over any other season no contest and yet Siberia...there's no way. Even I could not live there. I have so much respect for those who can, and do, continue to make their homes in one of the harshest climates on earth.

The author details how pianos came to be so beloved in Russia, and Siberia specifically. From large and grand pianos, to sturdier but simple uprights, she seeks out as many as she can find. That these instruments even survived the trip to and through Siberia to begin with is a testament to those that loved them. That some survive still, so many centuries to decades after they were constructed, is another.

Recommended for those with an interest in the history of Russia.

NetGalley ARC | A Short History of Russia: How the World's Largest Country Invented Itself, From the Pagans to Putin

 

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐

So anyone who has been with me for a while knows I inherently dislike short histories of complex topics, people, and places. However, Kievan Rus calls loudly to me and I can never turn down a book that covers that period in Russia's history.

When the author says 'short history', this is no minimalistic exaggeration. This could easily be the shortest book ever written about such a massive and complex place that has no natural borders, holds two continents together, and has been invaded time and time again to the point where today we can truly say there is no one core identity of people.

I was truly surprised to see how well the author managed to pull everything together while remaining true to the title. He's managed to hit on the key ideas and events that have shaped Russia over the centuries, but also provides suggestions of resources for readers might turn next if they want more information about specific periods. This is done chapter by chapter and I feel it was an excellent approach, because this way readers are not becoming glossy-eyed over one massive bibliography at the end, trying to figure out where to go next.

All of this is done through the lens of how Russia became Russia - and continues to become - due to both the outside influence of long-ago invaders, as well as how the country frames those victories and defeats in the annals. As we know, those defeats are not taken lightly, and the propaganda machine is so good it practically erases those failures from Russia's history altogether.

You will not find in-depth analysis, but you will find a concise and well-written starting-off point if learning more about Russia is something that interests you. The timelines at the beginning of each chapter were also valuable in showing what big events contributed to a particular era. Russian history is so vast, the sheer volume of material available is overwhelming. If you already have a solid foundation in Russian history, you can skip this one.

Review Bomb | Vikings

Oi! Two drastically different books on the same subject today. Who knew it was possible to make Vikings utterly BORING?!

 Rating: ⭐⭐

I waited so long to finally get this, and it ended up taking me aaaaages to get through. I skimmed a lot. The author is supremely knowledgeable about the subject matter but the book is bone-dry. And that is coming from someone who reads non-fiction almost exclusively. I just could not get into this one, no matter how hard I tried - which is kind of ridiculous when you think about it, because the Vikings are not a boring subject matter at all. Yet, here we are. It did not help that the print was incredibly tiny. Normally that doesn't bother me, but if I am already borderline about picking it up once my boredom has set in, print size becomes an issue.

Ferguson can not be entirely to blame, I suppose, though it is his writing style that nearly had me asleep. A major issue with this kind of history is the lack of written records. The author even addresses this issue early on. We don't have contemporary sources because there are very few, if any, that could be called conclusive. That is why we have non fiction texts today that focus on what we can learn from other records, such as those who were conquered by these warriors. But, as we know, those sources themselves are biased against their enemy. Basically, this book is a snooze-fest and that makes me sad. Definitely NOT a starting point if you know nothing about the Vikings, their history, and/or their impact on the world.

At least the cover is pretty.

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 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Despite having a more ridiculous cover, this book covers the topic in a far more engaging way. I am really just chalking this up to be the varying of writing styles. Maybe. My opinion might change in another thirty minutes, who knows.

Either way, this book was better and I read it much more quickly because I wanted to keep reading. That doesn't mean it is prize-worthy, but it is certainly attention-worthy.

What this book does rather well, as compared with the previous one above, is that it works WITH the material available, dealing in the provable and concrete. Though the Vikings are long gone, they left a lasting legacy that survives to this very day, all around us. The reach of the Vikings spanned half the globe and it shows. All the usual gang is here, Ragnar, Ivar, and Erik. But we also meet Vlad, Olga, and a cast of others who each contributed to this legacy. It is a given that we also hear quite a bit about my boy Alfred the Great, and his efforts to hold the Vikings back and retain/build up his kingdom.

Given the lack of primary sources, I appreciated how well the author used what we do have, both from the conquered and the conquerors. The book is told in chronological order, but then breaks down further by region. We see the mighty warriors as clusters of men in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, and watch them spread out far and wide, testing the waters of Ireland, England, Spain, Iceland, Greenland, and finally North America to the west. But they went east as well, and from those journeys we get the Rus, the Balkans, Ukraine, and so many places in between. These warriors also travelled to the Middle East, leaving their mark there as well.

When one considers the lasting impact of the Vikings on our world today (such as days of the week named for their Gods, and my fave football team, to name a very very few - you might be surprised if you do a search to find out just how many of our words today come from the Vikings), it is easy to forget how short their era of exploration, raiding, and pillaging actually was. Less than 300 years, to be exact - from that fateful arrival at Lindisfarne in 793, to the felling of my fave berserker, Harald Hardrada, at Stamford Bridge in 1066.

Speaking of the last Viking warrior, I appreciated the attention given to Harald Hardrada. Though I am firmly on the side of the Anglo-Saxons in all matters of 1066 (don't even get me started on William the Bastard, though I recognize he was necessary in order for the rest of history to play out as it did), there is a special place in my heart for this guy. What a life he lived, and how lucky we are to even know anything about it. Before venturing on his ill-fated voyage with King Harold's seriously crazy brother Tostig, Hardrada spent much of his life journeying in the opposite direction. He spent several years in the east and found himself as a commander of the Varangian Guard, mercenaries of the Byzantine Empire. This was an elite group and it was a privilege to become a guardsman. The men in this infantry unit enjoyed great wealth as a result. Given his history, it makes his death at Stanford all the more surprising - his men were simply not prepared for what the other Harold was bringing to the battle.

Recommended.