The Baltics in books

Over the thirty-four years since Latvia and the other Baltic states restored independence, and earlier during the Cold War, numerous books have focused on the events of WWII on Latvian territory — occupied by the USSR, then Nazi Germany, then the USSR again — and on the personal stories of WWII voyages into exile. Our reviews focus on the Latvian and Baltic experience in the 20th century. Arranged alphabetically.

• 500 Days500 Days: The War in Eastern Europe, Sean M. McAteer, Red Lead Press, 2009—A meticulous work regarding a period of WWII which was lost in propaganda and closed behind the Iron Curtain during the Soviet era.
• Paul SchiemannDefender of Minorities—Paul Schiemann, 1876-1944, John Hiden, Hurst & Company, 2004—Materials on Latvian nationalism and independence...present a strongly nationalistic picture of Latvia's first independence: Latvians shedding the twin yokes of Baltic German and Tsarist oppression. Nowhere is it mentioned that a Baltic German—Paul Schiemann—was a pivotal figure in defining Latvian identity and achieving Latvian sovereignty....
• Inside the LeagueInside the League: The Shocking Exposé of How Terrorists, Nazis, and Latin American Death Squads Have Infiltrated the World Anti-Communist League, Scott and Jon Lee Anderson, Dodd, Mead, 1986—Where the actions of Latvians during WWII and after, opposing Communism, are concerned, ignorance is an improvement over this work riddled with misspellings, misidentified individuals, and outlandish accusations that the Daugavas Vanagi were a notorious gang of Nazis before, during, and after WWII—"Latvian SS officers and government ministers who oversaw the Final Solution in their country."
• Latvia in World War IILatvia in World War II, Valdis Lūmans, Fordham University Press, 2006—In dispelling the "myth" of an idyllic Latvia, one inculcated by his parents, Lūmans falls short in his search for truth and balance, citing and including fabricated propaganda to indict Latvians as war criminals. A detailed review paper is also available.
• Murder Without HatredMurder Without Hatred, Anton Weiss-Wendt, Syracuse University Press, 2009—The title is certainly provocative: Estonians killing Jews yet without hatred. Does such a chilling contention of dispassionate cold-blooded murder even make sense? The contradictions Weiss-Wendt examines ultimately lie in his sources and not in the Estonian character.
• The Rings of My TreeThe Rings of My Tree: A Latvian Woman's Journey, Jane E. Cunningham, Llumina Press, 2004—A well-told story of one young woman’s journey starting in pre-WWII Latvia. We follow Jane's friend Mirdza as she is ripped from her beloved home in Liepaja...