The Guardsman

11 hrs. 9 min.

Language Russian

Author Dmitry Dashko

Narrator Sergey Kuleshov

It’s summer of 1735. “Bironnovshchina” is a terrible time for the country. People disappear at night; the rack and the executioner’s red-hot pincers in the Secret Chancellery know no rest. A murky period on the eve of the Russo-Turkish war, when a clever and enterprising man with a rapier and a pistol can drastically change both his own fate—and that of the country. The Courland baron Dietrich von Hofen, deciding to try his luck in the “barbaric and wild Moscovy,” is ready to risk his head and pass any trials to prevent a palace coup by the “daughter of Peter”—the dissolute Elizabeth. Here and now, on the muddy shores of the young imperial capital, in the light of smoky lamps, in ballroom halls and in stuffy taverns, a new future for Russia—and for the whole world—is forged. If you’re a real guardsman and you don’t know how to retreat—take fate by the throat and turn the gears of history!

1. The Guardsman (narrated by Natalya Frolova) 1. The Guardsman 2. Life Guards Major (narrated by Sergey Kuleshov) 3. Farewell, Guard! (narrated by Sergey Kuleshov)