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Reviews 225a Special interest in continuing ties.There are also chapters on regional topics: one on Ukraine, Belorussia, and Moldavia,others on the Baltic republics, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia, and one dealingwith the problem of Russian nationalism.One of the book's strengths is that nearly all of its contributors are persons whohave brought to the general nationalities question some special familiarity with atleast one of the component peoples and cultures, and who are thus able to look at thepicture "from the ground up." At the same time, each chapter is a work of solidscholarship, without special pleading or advocacy—a tribute to the editors who werealso organizers of the series of Olin Seminars on Critical Issues, held at the HarvardUniversity Russian Research Center, on which the book is based.In the final chapter, the editors conclude with an observation that now, with hindsight,seems like a masterpiece of caution: "In an era of reform, the nationalitiesproblem presents Soviet leaders with their most serious challenge, one that virtuallyguarantees that Soviet political evolution will be neither smooth nor simple."James CritchlowHarvard UniversityΑ ΜΕΝΝΟΝΠΈ IN RUSSIA: THE DIARIES OF JACOB D. EPP,1851 -1880. Translated and edited by Harvey L. Dyck. Toronto, Buffalo,London: University of Toronto Press, 1991. xiv, 456 pp.$60.00.Harvey L. Dyck has provided a thoughtful and highly readable edition of an importantprimary source, the diaries of a Mennonite schoolteacher, farmer, and ministerliving in Novorossiia (Ekaterinoslav guberniia) from 1851 — 1880—a period of greatupheaval in Russian society and life. The history of Mennonite communities inRussia—outsiders to the mainstream of Russian society, yet closely tied to imperialpolicy and local conditions—gives insight into the interplay between communitarianreligious ideals, political issues in St. Petersburg, and the reality of village life. Eventhe diarist's name, Jacob Davidovich Epp, reveals the inside/outside relationship ofthese Mennonites to Russian society through its mix of traditional German and Russianforms.Epp recounts the daily struggles of a poor farmer, including bouts with droughtand storm, good and poor harvests. His entries often concentrate, however, on thespiritual and educational state of his fellow Mennonites since he acted as both ministerand schoolteacher. These are the meat-and-potatoes of the Diaries and showEpp's concern over the lives of his coreligionists. Deeply conservative in his owndealings, Epp consistently acted to integrate changes and innovations to Mennonitelife that did not strike to the core of its religious or social character. The Diariesshow Epp to be a moderating force in debates over the use of the ban (especially foradultery) and in relations with the Brethren, a sectarian Mennonite group. Entries