The Last Marsel: Stories of the Great Patriotic War

Ivan Antonovich (Antipovich) Yefremov (1908–1972) was an outstanding Russian Soviet science fiction writer, paleontologist, founder of taphonomy (the scientific discipline that explains how and why the remains of extinct animals and plants are preserved), cosmist philosopher, and social thinker. From the mid-1920s his life was spent on expeditions, which yielded many valuable finds and discoveries.

This collection brings together adventure stories with elements of science fiction, set during the Great Patriotic War. Sailors from a Soviet warship struck by the Germans carry out a daring landing on enemy-surrounded territory and an equally risky escape from encirclement. A military pilot transports a valuable secret cargo across the Atlantic but, shot down by enemy fighters, lands on a remote island where he discovers a remarkable tree whose healing properties were used, according to legend, by medieval monks. A major-turned-artillerist, a geologist before the war, is sent from the hospital on leave to a resort for rehabilitation after being wounded, but along the way meets the charming assistant of an archaeologist and volunteers to work at an excavation, where he unravels the mystery of an ancient observatory. As always with Yefremov, the heroes of the stories — romantics and explorers — do not shrink from difficulties and strive to find a way out of the most complex situations. Listen to these captivating and enlightening tales!