It seems the 'Mrs Burton' (born Ursula Kuczynski) who pedalled around the English countryside in 1942 was a colonel in the Red Army. Her life story is extraordinary.
Set in Siberia in the 1970s, the adult narrator looks back on his friendship with an Armenian boy. Other slim but lyrically powerful novels by this great Russian/French novelist include Test... read more
A chilly outing for disgraced Colonel Alexander Vasin (whom we've met in a variety of scrapes in Black Sun and Red Traitor), fleeing across the wintry Siberian tundra with a man and a secret... read more
Painter, explorer, writer, archaeologist and theosophist, Roerich was a key figure for Diaghilev and Stravinsky for whom he designed sets and costumes (including The Rite of Spring). He was ... read more