John Symons is a classical and modern historian, with a passionate interest in Russia and the Soviet Union. He has travelled widely in Eastern Europe and Russia and has visited a former GULAG prison camp. Described by a British Ambassador to Russia as 'an enthusiastic Russophile', his talks with people persecuted or imprisoned by the Gestapo and the KGB enrich this book. He is the author of two biographies, one of his father, Stranger on the Shore, and one of his mother, This Life of Grace.
"This is the history of Russia, but in a form that you will not have read it before. It is at the same time objective and intensely personal. It tells us more in a few pages than many more formal accounts manage in a whole volume ... Academic writers just do not seem to achieve this perspective ... A short review cannot ... reveal the riches of this novel: easy reading, full of insight, inspiring, and leaving one with the conviction that Russia's renewed betrayal of its moral values can be only a passing phase." --Michael Bourdeaux, founder of Keston Institute, Oxford in the Church Times 'This is a gem of a book ... compellingly well-written, so absorbing it can be read at a sitting. Re-reading yields more each time, like the best music ... spare, beautiful prose - all the more moving for its under-stated elegance and all the more gripping for its striking use of Hemingway-like short sentence and punchy dialogue ... His technique of using three families across generations allows full scope to the author's immense emotional and intellectual range. Its approach and theme are worthy of comparison with Jung Chang's 'Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China' ... he has written what deserves to become a classic of its kind.' Giles Mercer. The Catholic Times, July 2013
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
