Russka

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0307806030
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 961

Book Description
"Impressive." THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD Spanning 1800 years of Russia's history, people, poltics, and culture, Edward Rurtherford, author of the phenomenally successful SARUM: THE NOVEL OF ENGLAND, tells a grand saga that is as multifaceted as Russia itself. Here is a story of a great civilization made human, played out through the lives of four families who are divided by ethnicity but united in shaping the destiny of their land. "Rutherford's RUSSKA succeeds....[He] can take his place among an elite cadre of chroniclers such as Harold Lamb, Maurice Hindus and Henri Troyat." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Russka

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1409039633
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1024

Book Description
Panoramic, sweeping, monumental, haunting: a story of four families which spans the centuries of Russia from Edward Rutherford, the author of Paris, London and New York. In this vast and gorgeous tapestry of a novel, serf and master, Cossack and tsar, priest and Jew are brought together in a family saga which unrolls through centuries of history to reveal that most impenetrable and mysterious of lands - Russia. Through the life of a little town east of Moscow in the Russian heartland, Edward Rutherfurd creates a sweeping family saga from the baffling contradictions of Russia's culture and her peoples - bleak yet exotic, brutal but romantic, land of ritual yet riddled with superstitious fears. From Russia's dawn and the cruel Tatar invasions to Ivan the Terrible and the wild Cossacks, from Peter, Catherine and the days of War and Peace to the drama of the Revolution and the extraordinary events of today - here is Russia's story in a spellbinding novel - history recreated with breathtaking detail and passion.

The Forest

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0804151024
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 785

Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Rutherford brings England’s New Forest to life” (The Seattle Times) in this companion to the critically acclaimed Sarum From the time of the Norman Conquest to the present day, the New Forest, along England’s southern coast, has remained an almost mythical place. It is here that Saxon and Norman kings rode forth with their hunting parties, and where William the Conqueror’s son Rufus was mysteriously killed. The mighty oaks of the forest were used to build the ships for Admiral Nelson’s navy, and the fishermen who lived in Christchurch and Lymington helped Sir Francis Drake fight off the Spanish Armada. The New Forest is the perfect backdrop for the families who people this epic story. The feuds, wars, loyalties, and passions of many hundreds of years reach their climax in a crime that shatters the decorous society of Bath in the days of Jane Austen, whose family lived on the edge of the Forest. Edward Rutherfurd is a master storyteller whose sense of place and character—both fictional and historical—is at its most vibrant in The Forest. “As entertaining as Sarum and Rutherford’s other sweeping novel of British history, London.”—The Boston Globe

Sarum

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0307806049
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 913

Book Description
A masterpiece of breathtaking scope—a brilliantly conceived epic novel that traces the entire turbulent course of English history This ebook edition features a new introduction by the author in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of Sarum. This rich tapestry weaves a compelling saga of five families—the Wilsons, the Masons, the family of Porteus, the Shockleys, and the Godfreys—who reflect the changing character of Britain. As their fates and fortunes intertwine over the course of the centuries, their greater destinies offer a fascinating glimpse into the future. An absorbing historical chronicle, Sarum is a keen tale of struggle and adventure, a profound human drama, and a magnificent work of sheer storytelling. Praise for Sarum “Bursts with action, encyclopedic in historic detail . . . supremely well crafted and a delight to read.”—Chicago Tribune “A fascinating journey . . . a clear yet sparkling window upon history with a superb narrative, so perfectly balanced between history and fiction that it clears away the mists of time from antiquity, giving the reader the impression that events over a span of ten centuries occurred only yesterday.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram “Strong . . . appealing . . . I haven’t read so satisfactory a saga in years . . . in fact, perhaps not ever before. . . . It gives you not only history but comfort.”—Chicago Sun-Times “[Edward] Rutherfurd holds us all consistently intrigued. In Sarum he has created a splendid novel that will bring many hours of diversified reading pleasure.”—The Plain Dealer “A richly imagined vision of history, written with genuine delight.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Rutherfurd is at his best. . . . His storytelling skills are substantial. . . . One of the best books of the season.”—Kansas City Star “Absorbing . . . a superior historical novel . . . This blockbuster saga should appeal to discriminating readers, since Rutherfurd has an excellent grasp of his subject and a compelling story to tell.”—Publishers Weekly

Paris

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0385535317
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 938

Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Edward Rutherfurd, the grand master of the historical novel, comes a dazzling epic about the magnificent city of Paris. Moving back and forth in time, the story unfolds through intimate and thrilling tales of self-discovery, divided loyalty, and long-kept secrets. As various characters come of age, seek their fortunes, and fall in and out of love, the novel follows nobles who claim descent from the hero of the celebrated poem The Song of Roland; a humble family that embodies the ideals of the French Revolution; a pair of brothers from the slums behind Montmartre, one of whom works on the Eiffel Tower as the other joins the underworld near the Moulin Rouge; and merchants who lose everything during the reign of Louis XV, rise again in the age of Napoleon, and help establish Paris as the great center of art and culture that it is today. With Rutherfurd’s unrivaled blend of impeccable research and narrative verve, this bold novel brings the sights, scents, and tastes of the City of Light to brilliant life. Praise for Paris “A tour de force . . . [Edward Rutherfurd’s] most romantic and richly detailed work of fiction yet.”—Bookreporter “Fantastic . . . as grand and engrossing as Paris itself.”—Historical Novels Review “This saga is filled with historical detail and a huge cast of characters, fictional and real, spanning generations and centuries. But Paris, with its art, architecture, culture and couture, is the undisputed main character.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram “Both Paris, the venerable City of Light, and Rutherfurd, the undisputed master of the multigenerational historical saga, shine in this sumptuous urban epic.”—Booklist “There is suspense, intrigue and romance around every corner.”—Asbury Park Press

Russia in Search of Itself

Author: James H. Billington
Publisher: Woodrow Wilson Center Press
ISBN: 0801879760
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Book Description
Billington describes the contentious discussion occurring all over Russia and across the political spectrum. He finds conflicts raging among individuals as much as between organized groups and finds a deep underlying tension between the Russians' attempts to legitimize their new, nominally democratic identity, and their efforts to craft a new version of their old authoritarian tradition. After showing how the problem of Russian identity was framed in the past, Billington asks whether Russians will now look more to the West for a place in the common European home, or to the East for a new, Eurasian identity.

New York

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0099509385
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1042

Book Description
A novel that tells the story of New York city - from the epic, empty grandeur of the New World to the skyscrapers of the City that Never Sleeps, from the intimate detail of lives long forgotten to those lived at breakneck speed.

The Rebels of Ireland

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Anchor Canada
ISBN: 0307371476
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 930

Book Description
Edward Rutherfurd’s stirring account of Irish history, the Dublin Saga, concludes in this magisterial work of historical fiction. Beginning where the first volume, The Princes of Ireland, left off, The Rebels of Ireland takes us into a world transformed by the English practice of “plantation,” which represented the final step in the centuries-long British conquest of Ireland. Once again Rutherfurd takes us inside the process of history by tracing the lives of several Dublin families from all strata of society – Protestant and Catholic, rich and poor, conniving and heroic. From the time of the plantations and Elizabeth’s ascendancy Rutherfurd moves into the grand moments of Irish history: the early-17th-century “Flight of the Earls,” when the last of the Irish aristocracy fled the island; Oliver Cromwell’s brutal oppression and confiscation of lands a half-century later; the romantic, doomed effort of “The Wild Geese” to throw off Protestant oppression at the Battle of the Boyne. The reader sees through the eyes of the victims and the perpetrators alike the painful realities of the anti-Catholic penal laws, the catastrophic famine and the massive migration to North America, the rise of the great nationalists O’Connell and the tragic Parnell, the glorious Irish cultural renaissance of Joyce and Yeats, and finally, the triumphant founding of the Irish Republic in 1922. Written with all the drama and sweep that has made Rutherfurd the bestselling historical novelist of his generation, The Rebels of Ireland is both a necessary companion to The Princes of Ireland and a magnificent achievement in its own right.

London

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0099551373
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1330

Book Description
The triumphs and failures of seven individual family clans span the history of a city from the third-century Roman occupation of Londinium through such eras as the Norman conquest and the Elizabethan period.

The Princes of Ireland

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Seal Books
ISBN: 0307371484
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 802

Book Description
From the internationally bestselling author of London and Sarum -- a magnificent epic about love and war, family life and political intrigue in Ireland over the course of seventeen centuries. Like the novels of James Michener, The Princes of Ireland brilliantly interweaves engrossing fiction and well-researched fact to capture the essence of a place. Edward Rutherfurd has introduced millions of readers to the human dramas that are the lifeblood of history. From his first bestseller, Sarum, to the #1 bestseller London, he has captivated audiences with gripping narratives that follow the fortunes of several fictional families down through the ages. The Princes of Ireland, a sweeping panorama steeped in the tragedy and glory that is Ireland, epitomizes the power and richness of Rutherfurd’s storytelling magic. The saga begins in pre-Christian Ireland with a clever refashioning of the legend of Cuchulainn, and culminates in the dramatic founding of the Free Irish State in 1922. Through the interlocking stories of a wonderfully imagined cast of characters -- monks and noblemen, soldiers and rebels, craftswomen and writers -- Rutherfurd vividly conveys the personal passions and shared dreams that shaped the character of the country. He takes readers inside all the major events in Irish history: the reign of the fierce and mighty kings of Tara; the mission of Saint Patrick; the Viking invasion and the founding of Dublin; the trickery of Henry II, which gave England its foothold on the island in 1167; the plantations of the Tudors and the savagery of Cromwell; the flight of the “Wild Geese”; the failed rebellion of 1798; the Great Famine and the Easter Rebellion. With Rutherfurd’s well-crafted storytelling, readers witness the rise of the Fenians in the late nineteenth century, the splendours of the Irish cultural renaissance, and the bloody battles for Irish independence, as though experiencing their momentous impact firsthand. Tens of millions of North Americans claim Irish descent. Generations of people have been enchanted by Irish literature, and visitors flock to Dublin and its environs year after year. The Princes of Ireland will appeal to all of them -- and to anyone who relishes epic entertainment spun by a master.