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mariluetta 's review for:
Imperium
by Ryszard Kapuściński
I gave this book four stars before, which was far too stingy. I just went back into it a bit, and it's definitely a 5-star book. His elliptical observations of the effects of a deranged political system on a broad range of peoples, deeply affecting their geography, cultures, histories and societies are striking. Pathos is evoked not through wordiness, but through a deeply humane ability to get to the core of a culture with a few short anecdotes. You may think as I do that all political systems have their pathologies, but you'll walk away from this book having a special regard for what a people-crusher the Soviet Union was.