I read about this book in the August 2000 issue of National Georgraphic magazine, and grew very eager to read it. For years I've been searching for ways to explore family roots in Shepitikava, Ukraine, around and prior to 1920. This book provides details I would not have found anywhere unless I did the on site research the author Weiner has done. What a find! Aunts born in Shepitivka prior to 1920 still live today and will be mesmerized by the details I will soon point out to them. For that matter, their father, my grandfather, may well be pictured in one 1920 photo of Jewish men in Shepetivka at the cemetary's new gate.

I recently received my copy of this long awaited work by Miriam Weiner. In addition to providing the first tangible inventory of what the regional archives hold, in regard to the history of our Jewish families, this book gives a wonderful pictorial overview of the area. One which most of us could only imagine until now. It does so by providing photos of the places our families inhabited in the past, contrasted, in many instances, with how those same places appear now.

The vivid past jumps off the pages of this beautifully formatted book, just as the lure of the book's vast archive document inventory tempts the reader with its research possibilities for the future.

This book is a must for anyone contemplating research into their family history in Ukraine and Moldova, and a treasure for those who are merely curious about the world our ancestors lived in and left behind.

It is an interisting book wich helped me to understand beter Moldovan history

In conjunction with the show at The Brooklyn Museum of Art this Winter, Rizzoli has published the photos by the Russian photographer, David Goberman, aged 88, which he took from the 1930s through the 1960s of Jewish gravestones. The photos document the vanishing art of stone carvers and highlights themes of folk art and spiritual belief. The photos also provide a timeless record of Jewish tradition in the Ukraine and Moldova. Intricately carved motifs include crowns of the Torah, signs of the Kohanim (split fingers), birds, fallen fruit, a single candle, a broken tree and three small chicks (for the mother who dies leaving three young children), fish, deer, unicorns, bear, lions, and fighting lions. Those with menorahs, grapes and water jugs usually represented Levites. Peacocks represent paradise. An excellent book to cherish and learn from.

There are over 100 photographs of tombstones from Jewish towns (shtetls) in Ukraine and Moldova taken by a Russian photographer surreptitiously during the 1950's and 1960's in the Soviet Union. The images range from lions and dragons to seahorses and rabbits -- Jewish stonecarvers used the stones for artistic expression, as well as text to describe the deceased (translated in detail on many stones). The book was published to coincide with an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum that opens on January 13 and runs through April. Many of the stones shown here were torn up during the Stalin regime and used to make factory steps or fish ponds, so this is the only historical record.

I found the author's tone supercilious and condescending, and the people I met and places I visited MUCH more warm and inviting than this book would suggest. The only place I found people a little "snotty" in the whole country was Bucharest - and they were nicer than the average Manhattanite, that's for sure! Your ideas about poverty and wealth WILL be challenged, your sense of humor will be expanded and thoroughly spanked, and if you don't try to buy everything that isn't for sale (or haggle over already [low] prices) you'll be amazed at how generous people are, too. Yes there are tourist traps galore, with inflated prices and rotten service, but not nearly as many as in say, the average coastal town in Maine.

This book came in handy during my entire stay in Romania. It also pointed out little known monuments. This is definitely a comprehensive book on many levels...I wonder why they left out Transylvania on the cover though.

Modern Day Romania is comprised of the former country Romania, Moldovia, and Transylvania.
This book is chocked full of information. This book is not intended to be a phrase book and it's entire emphasis is the unique sentence structure that the Romanian language requires.

I was there because one of the books I authored was translated into Romanian by the Sibiu Monetary Financial Commodities Exchange.

After having spent two weeks last summer as well as several small ventures in and out of the country in the fall, I have to say that this guide is by far the best one to use for travels throughout Romania. There are a few inconsistencies here and there regarding buses, restaurants and hotels (most notably price-wise...quite forgiveable), but overall the book is extremely well put together and informative. I had the Rough Guide for Romania throughout my travels, but I always found myself using LP's guide instead. The only thing I would recommend for an improvement is the inclusion of a few more "off the beaten path" areas such as the Csango enclave in Moldavia and the Kalotaszeg region in Transylvania (the brief mention of the Kalotaszeg is rather insubstantial), as well as the oft-ignored Danubian town of Braila, which has a very pleasant and attractive town center. Perhaps it could use more expanded sections on Wallachia and Moldavia as well, since Transylvania is by far the most covered region in the book (an understandable decision, though it sometimes seems as though coverage of other areas is too skimpy in comparison). Regardless, for the first edition of the guide, LP has done an excellent job, and I'm sure the next edition will see a few more additions to fill out the book.

An enjoyable book, like a Bill Bryson book with a basic plot and some human relationships. A British comedian bet that he'd play tennis with every member of a Moldovan international foootball/soccer team he saw play in Britain, and win. And why not?

He knows nothing about Moldova (it's somewhere between Romania and the Ukraine) but he's an optimist, so he gets the most basic of leads and off he goes on his 6-month quest.

It's a mix of an appreciation/travelogue of this emerging, poor country (think Albania with a few nightclubs but no streetlights at night) with a good appreciation of its people (pleasant but whose history has made them fatalistic) and his connection with a generous family who let him in. He can't play against all the footballers there and to complete his bet he needs to visit Northern Ireland for an international football match and a quirky interlude. And then the final footballer has transferred an Israel football club...

I enjoyed it. Hawks gives a good account of his own ups and downs on his 6-month mission, and the interactions with the Moldovans and others brighten his tale.

British comedian Tony Hawks doesn't seem to be able to have a conversation without getting into some fantastic bet. His last book recounted his journey, on a dare, to travel "Round Ireland With a Fridge." One of my favorite travel memoirs of the past few years, "Round Ireland" combined outrageous humor with an affectionate portrait of Ireland and her people. His newest, "Playing the Moldovans at Tennis," follows the same path: challenged by his friend Arthur that he can't beat the entire Moldovan national football team at tennis, Tony immediately jets to the tiny Balkan country and is met with frustration at every turn to even get a chance to set foot on a tennis court. Since the loser of the bet strips naked and sings the Moldovan national anthem in public, he doesn't dare lose, but the incredibly different customs of Moldova are against him from Day One. Red tape, diplomacy, and the language barrier rise up to block his success, but for every pushy, arrogant football team manager he comes across there's a dozen friendly, supportive, and helpful journalists, fixers, and everyday folks who are intrigued by and helpful with Tony's seemingly mad quest.

While not as fascinating as "Round Ireland," (there's less of travel interest here to the casual reader), Hawks brings his usual humor punctuated by moments of hilarious despair, and the ending even has a twist that couldn't have been written more cleverly if it had been in a Hollywood movie. In the end it's a gentle and affectionate portrait of the Moldovans, a people and country I knew nothing about before this book. More important, Tony himself sums up the real result of his offbeat quest as *not* the chance to avoid singing starkers outside a London pub, but inspiring a young Moldovan man who, pessimistic at the first, comes to realize a silly impossible pursuit is just as worth doing as a dull everyday task.

If you're looking for funny travel tales, look no further. If you want to learn about Moldova, look elsewhere - or at least read other books as well. Hawks paints a rather bleak picture of Moldova that is, at best, only partially true, and at worst offensive to many Moldovans. The stories are funny, and there are grains of truth here. But the overall conclusion Tony leads to about Moldova are untrue.

That's one hell of a title, and one hell of a book. Read it if you dare!

Sadly, this is one of the very few books with information on this part of the world - and it gets many facts wrong. This book is obvoiusly aimed at the K-12 market, and aims to function as a primer on this region. Unfortunately, it fails.

* Ukrainian place names are invariably given in Russian instead of Ukrainian (for example, Kyiv is spelled Kiev in this book).

* Moldovan place names are either not spelled correctly - e.g. "Belsiy" for Balti, or given in Russian - e.g. "Kishinev" for Chisinau.

* Country names are not accurate - for example, the German Democratic Republic is labeled as "East Germany".

* Information on these countries' ethnic minorities is shallow. The Gagauz and Bulgarian minorities in Moldova are simply labeled as "other", and the percentage of the pie chart given to these "others" is wrong (13 per cent instead of approximately 4 per cent).

* Finally, many other details are wrong. For example, Moldova is described as having "abundant natural resources and well-developed industries", when in fact Moldova imports nearly all of its power and natural resources, and has virtually no developed industry save for some decaying factories in the Trans-Dniestr Republic.

In short, save your money. If you're looking for information on these countries, look elsewhere.