Well, I've pretty much given up on that Great Terror book. It's now about 2-3 weeks and I'm still only 22 pages in. I think I need a big "STALIN: THE COMIC BOOK" or something to give me a primer on Russian politics in and around the early 1900's before I can go back and tackle that Great Terror book.

So... if I can't handle real history, I may as well read some alternate history instead.

I'm about 60 pages into Kim Stanley Robinson's 'The Years Of Rice And Salt' after a day or two of reading and it is excellent. The premise is that during the 700's or so, the Black Death wiped out 99% of the Western population. In this world, the major religions are Islam and Buddhism rather than Christianity (though there are still a few Christians left, they're more of a cult than anything in this world). It takes place over 14 centuries and I'm just at the beginning of the book, but it's well written and very interesting. I highly recommend it!