... brought a comment about the other member's group Russia, and noticing Aelfy's membership, I described my own interest.

I bought the book Iuri Ivanovich Hun recommended (same edition, though at near list of $100), I have several Soviet Life magazines from the 1970's when Nixon entered Detente (remember that?), I taught myself Russian (to read; my pronunciation is horrible; French is sooooo much easier *G*), and I have this li'l odd hobby regarding a Soviet WW2 tank called the KV-1 ('cause it looks nice).

BTW, there's a video game called Ghost Recon, where you, as a Green Beret special forces type, go through select areas of Russia fighting ultra-nationalists. The game locations are based on actual places, including an end-game scenario set in and around the huge G.U.M. Department store and Red Square itself. The game is available for both PC and Mac; the PC via UbiSoft and the Mac from Aspyr.