First published 2014
In a small village east of Moscow, five families witness the sweep of Russian history across generations. Warriors and hermits, boyars and serfs populate this contradictory world of forests and steppes, Orthodox faith and Jewish persecution. The families navigate the Mongol invasion, survive the brutal reign of Ivan the Terrible, and face the wild Cossacks who terrorize the countryside. They live through the transformative dynasties of Peter the Great and Catherine, experience the chaos of the Revolution, and endure the contemporary events that follow. Their lives unfold against a backdrop of Russian folk art and sumptuous operas, of beautiful churches standing beside magnificent palaces and miserable villages. From Tolstoy to Lenin, from Tchaikovsky to Rasputin, the great figures of Russian culture shape their world. Through extensive documentation and fast-paced storytelling, Rutherfurd captures the contradictory nature of one of the world's most fascinating countries, following these families from nomadic tribes of the Eurasian plains to the present day.
Genres: historical-fiction, russian-literature, epic
Vibes: atmospheric, epic, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-saga, sweeping-epic
Setting: Moscow, Russia, Eurasian Plains
Period: Mongol Invasion, Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Catherine, Russian Revolution
1046 pages · Hardcover · Roca Editorial