Mazower (history, Columbia Univ.; The Balkans: A Short History) illuminates Russian revolutionary politics and émigré life in Britain in this fascinating family history. Max Mazower, the author's Russian grandfather, was of the same generation as Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, but as a Bundist (member of the secular Jewish socialist movement Bundism) was a revolutionary of a different stripe. Remarkable twists and turns sent Max to interwar England, where he brought his wife, Frouma, and her daughter from Russia and became a businessman. The family also included Max's son from a previous relationship, and William, the author's father, who was born in England. Delving into these lives, Mazower shows how his father absorbed his unique background and became a quintessential Englishman. As with David Laskin's The Family, entire family branches disappear in the chaos of war and Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union, and famous Chekists and anarchists make surprising appearances. Mazower lovingly explores how his father, the youngest in a family marked by upheaval, found comfort living in a close radius of his childhood home for most of his life. VERDICT Readers of family histories and those with an interest in the Jewish Labour Bund will appreciate this book.-Laurie Unger Skinner, Coll. of Lake Cty., Waukegan, IL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.