Product Description

Occasionally a book is published that reveals a subculture you never dreamt existed. More rarely, that book goes on to become a phenomenon of its own. The 2004 publication of the Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia was such a phenomenon, spawning two further volumes and alerting a fascinated readership worldwide to the extraordinary and hermetic world of Russian criminal tattoos (David Cronenberg, for example, made regular use of the Encyclopaedia during the making of his 2007 movie Eastern Promises). Now, Fuel has reprinted volume one of this bestselling series, whose first edition already fetches considerable sums online. The photographs, drawings and texts published in this book are part of a collection of more than 3,000 tattoos accumulated over a lifetime by a prison attendant named Danzig Baldaev. Tattoos were his gateway into a secret world in which he acted as ethnographer, recording the rituals of a closed society. The icons and tribal languages he documented are artful, distasteful, sexually explicit and sometimes just strange, reflecting as they do the lives and traditions of Russian convicts. Skulls, swastikas, harems of naked women, a smiling Al Capone, medieval knights in armor, daggers sheathed in blood, benign images of Christ, sweet-faced mothers and their babies, armies of tanks and a horned Lenin: these are the signs by which the people of this hidden world mark and identify themselves. With a foreword by Danzig Baldaev, and an introduction by Alexei Plutser-Sarno, exploring the symbolism of the Russian criminal tattoo.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7234 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780955862076
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

great book!
I bought this book as a christmas gift for my Uncle. He has several Tattoo books (historical) and this one was a great addition. It is a 3 part series and Vollume 2 is extremely hard to find unless you buy at auction or 'used' for a couple of hundred dollars.
Finding parts 1 and 3 for 20.00 was a steal! I'd reccomend this for anyones collection!

Fascinating
Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia Volume 1 is a fascinating book filled with interesting history, high quality photos and accurate translations. This is the best of the 3 volume set.

Some of the best reference you will find
This is the first volume of three of the finest Russian prison tattoos that you can find. Very graphic and unrestricted. I recommend to any enthusiast!