Mark Aldanov is a brilliant 20th-century Russian historian-writer. He authored works unmatched in reliability (the writer spent a great deal of time in archives) and depth of understanding of the lives of great people of the past and present.
“The Tale of Death” is about the last moments of Honoré de Balzac’s life. The writer is constantly preoccupied with questions of morality, eternal values, and the historical appropriateness of what happens in the world.