October 16, 2007

Putin, Stalin and Teheran


When news broke that Putin was traveling to Teheran despite death threats from terrorists, I was reminded that the last Russian leader who traveled to Teheran - Josef Stalin - also went there despite a death threat against him (and Roosevelt and Churchill, as the Big Three were traveling there in 1943 for the Teheran Conference).

The plot against the Big Three was first uncovered by Soviet spy Nikolai Kuznetsov. Parachuted behind enemy lines at Rovno, Ukraine, Kuznetsov posed as German officer Paul Zeibert and repeatedly infiltrated German held areas, establishing a wide intelligence network and boldly assassinating German military governors in broad daylight, after pronouncing to them their death sentence. He uncovered details of the plot from a loose-lipped German officer, and fed the information back through his network.

Kuznetsov did not survive the war, having been betrayed by Ukrainian nationalists. The Big Three's conference went on un-disturbed... (For a Soviet era film treatment of this episode in disguise, see "Teheran-43").

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The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

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The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

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This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

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The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
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A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Life Stories
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The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

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Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

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