A book launch was held in Steinbach on Monday, November 26 to showcase 'The Russian Mennonite Story.' The book tells stories about the 200-year period that Mennonites were in Russia. It is based on the lectures of the late Professor Paul Toews, a historian who was well known for his talks during Mennonite Heritage Cruises in Ukraine. The book was edited by Dr. Aileen Friesen of the University of Winnipeg. She says what makes this book so special are the photographs that so clearly show Mennonite life in Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries.

"The photographs are incredible. I worked with archivists from the Mennonite Heritage Archives here in Winnipeg, from Bethel College Archives in the United States and also, in Ontario, from the archives at Conrad Grebel University College. In all of those settings, I was able to work closely with the archivists to find new pictures, pictures that haven't actually previously been seen. A number of them provide new insight into the Mennonite story."

Friesen says the book will be of interest to a broad spectrum of people who want to know more about Mennonite history.

"It does show what happened, what took place in Russia from the early settlement of Mennonites in the late 18th century through to the Russian Revolution and the exodus of the 1920's Mennonites and then onward into the Soviet story and what happened under Soviet power. It provides a broader framework for understanding this particular part of Mennonite history, the Russian part of Mennonite history and I think it will be of interest to a lot of different types of people."

She notes people who have read the book have appreciated the way in which the story is accessible.