The Imperial Life Guards Regiment during the uprising of December 14th 1825 Senate Square. (19th Century). Vasily Timm (1820 -1895).The Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. ‘The historical value of revolutions depends upon three conditions: upon what they destroy, upon what they create and upon the legend that they leave behind…The Decembrists have not destroyed anything or […]
Category: Decembrists
Two people in one
Alexander Mikhailovich Murav’ev (1802-1853) Lithograph. (1822) Piotr Feodorovich Sokolov (1791- 1848) There can be problems when a writer tries to combine an engaging plot with historical truth. This can be particularly true when it comes to depicting characters who are ‘real’ people. Historical novels vary widely in their historical accuracy, ranging from books that are […]
Russia in North America
At least one scene in my novel, Small Acts of Kindness, a tale of the first Russian revolution, takes place in the offices of the Russian American Company. One of the principle characters, the radical Kondraty Ryleev, was office manager at the company in the months before the Decembrist uprising in 1825. The large building, […]
Dusk approaches…
We are now moving deeper into December, and it is dark a little after 4 p.m. It was a little earlier, just after 3 p.m. in St Petersburg on December 14th 1825(Old Style) when Nicholas Pavlovich, newly created Emperor of Russia, ordered guns to be fired to scatter 3000 rebel troops. The soldiers had stood […]
Lockdown ,,,,a result!
Sadly due the the present circumstances what was to have been one of my busiest ever years speaking to different groups about Russia, has turned into one of my emptiest for a long time. All has not been a total disaster however. I have used the extra time afforded by lock down to try my […]