Beware the Rugged Russian Bear (Hardcover)

John Ure

ISBN 10: 1908699582 / ISBN 13: 9781908699589

Editore: Old Street Publishing, London, 2015

Riguardo questo articolo

Hardcover. 'Russia.is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.' Churchill's words were never truer than when the Russian Revolution developed in 1917 from the orderly abdication of an autocratic Tsar to his barbaric murder, and from the establishment of a moderate government to the seizure of power by violent Bolsheviks.But opinion in the West was slow to grasp the import of what was happening. Everyone knew that Russia was overdue for change, and everybody wanted to keep the new Soviet state as an ally in the war against the Kaiser's Germany. No one seemed aware that a reign of terror unequalled since the French Revolution was gripping a nation the size of a continent. It was left to a handful of British adventurers to lift the curtain on this troubled and bloody scene, and to expose the brutal machinations of a new order which was to shake the stability of western democracies and threaten their very existence.Who were these whistle-blowers? Some were diplomats, some were spies, some were scholars and intellectuals; some were novelists and journalists, one was a clergyman, and there were also innocent youngsters - often governesses - who suddenly found themselves living in an alarming land. Many risked their lives and their liberty to reveal to the outside world what was happening in the secretive and sinister state that lay behind a smoke-screen of deceit and a prison-wall-like frontier. John Ure - who has himself lived as a diplomat in Russia - brings their stories vividly to life, largely on the basis of accounts which have been gathering dust unread for a century. Once again (in the words of The Sunday Times) 'his adventurous spirit sweeps across continents and through history'. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Codice articolo 9781908699589

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Beware the Rugged Russian Bear (Hardcover)
• Editore: Old Street Publishing, London
• Data di pubblicazione: 2015
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1908699582
• ISBN 13: 9781908699589
• Rilegatura: Hardcover
• Condizione: new

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

Russia...is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
Winston Churchill's words were never truer than in 1917, when the Russian Revolution morphed with dizzying speed from the orderly abdication of the Tsar to the barbaric murder of his entire family, and the violent seizure of power by Lenin s Bolsheviks.
Yet the outside world was slow to grasp what was happening. Russia had long seemed due for change, and the western European powers were eager to keep the new Soviet state as an ally in the war against Germany. Politicians and public alike were unaware that a reign of terror unequalled since the French Revolution was gripping a nation the size of a continent.
It was left to a handful of British adventurers to expose the brutality of a new order which was to shake western democracy to its very foundations. Who were these whistle-blowers? Some were diplomats or spies; others were scholars, novelists or journalists; one was a clergyman. Then there were the English governesses: young women hired to look after the scions of aristocratic Russian families, yet who suddenly found themselves living in perilous circumstances, their employers sworn enemies of a murderous new regime.
John Ure, who himself lived as a diplomat in Russia and knew several of these extraordinary men and women personally, brings their stories unforgettably to life. Once again (in the words of The Sunday Times) 'his adventurous spirit sweeps across continents and through history'.

Recensione

'Knowledgeable, vivid, enlightening and, above all, very human'
JOHN LE CARRE on BEWARE THE RUGGED RUSSIAN BEAR

'Anyone with red blood in his or her veins will be stirred by these stories'
COUNTRY LIFE on SHOOTING LEAVE --...