Alumni Travel Reading: Cruising the Baltic Sea

"[A] modern filmmaker magically finds himself transported to the 18th century. There he embarks on a time-traveling journey through 300 years of Russian history. Filmed with a cast of thousands, three live orchestras and an army of technicians, Russian Ark is the longest uninterrupted shot in film history, and the first feature film ever created in a single take." Click title above to preview trailer at Youtube.

A biography of Nikita Khrushchev written by his son, Sergei, a Senior Fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute, who will speak during the cruise.

From the publisher: “A compelling portrait of a city and its transcendent artistic and spiritual legacy-written by a cultural historian who has known some of the greatest figures of modern St. Petersburg, including Balanchine, Shostakovich, Akhmatova, and Brodsky.”

From the publisher: “[U]sing the case of Stockholm as the pivot of discussions, Sustainable Stockholm investigates the core issues of sustainable urban environmental development and planning… The book shows how intersecting fields such as urban . . . that have contributed to making Stockholm Europe’s "greenest" city.” Also includes a brief history of Stockholm over the last two hundred years and several images and infographics.

The Hanseatic Town of Visby was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. The description provides a historical overview and documents the area’s unique features. The “Photos” tab is also recommended for perusing. Photo taken from World Heritage Sweden, Hanseatic Town of Visby.

Lech Walesa’s autobiography, written while he was in office as Poland’s first directly elected president, is an account of his life as an electrician in the Gdansk shipyards, a leader of the Solidarity movement, and president of Poland.

A history of 20th century Poland. Includes an extensive bibliography for further reading.

The Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The description provides a historical overview and documents the area’s unique features. The “Photos” tab is also recommended for perusing.

“Documents the Estonians between 1986 and 1991, as they took to the streets to sing forbidden songs in an effort to free themselves of the Soviet occupation.” Click the title link above to view a brief preview of the film.

A collection of twenty-five Estonian oral histories. Most of the people interviewed were born during the first half of the twentieth century.

Looks at the use and influence of light in modern Scandinavian architecture, using approximately fifty examples of buildings in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. Includes over four hundred color photographs of building interiors, exteriors, and details.

This book showcases the work of 65 Scandinavian architects and architectural firms, including a short interview with each one about their philosophy. Includes several hundred color images, as well as architectural drawings

A collection of twenty-four of the famous Danish author’s stories, including annotations on cultural and literary references by folklore scholar Maria Tatar. Also includes an introduction to Andersen and his works, a biography of Andersen, notes on his illustrators, and a bibliography for further reading. Illustrated with one-hundred-fifty rare images.

A compact introduction to Danish political and economic history from 1500 to the present. The author is the Royal Historiographer of Denmark, formerly professor of Modern History at the University of Southern Denmark.

From the publisher: “[U]ncovers the human consequences of the world famous rescue of the Danish Jews from Nazi persecution during World War II… Based on new empirical material and more than one hundred interviews, the book now tells the story of what happened after October 1943: For the first time the long term consequences of escape, exile and deportation are portrayed.” Based on an exhibit at the Danish Jewish Museum.

A history of Finland from medieval times through the turn of the twenty-first century. Includes images and a bibliography for further reading.

From the publisher: “Finnish Lessons is a first-hand, comprehensive account of how Finland built a world-class education system during the past three decades. The author traces the evolution of education policies in Finland and highlights how they differ from the United States and other industrialized countries.” Sahlberg is a visiting professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and previously worked in Finland as a teacher, teacher educator, and education policy maker.