Volume nine of the collected works of the outstanding Russian writer Mark Alexandrovich Aldanov (1886–1957) includes novellas about people who played a prominent role in the history of Russia. What became of Pushkin’s assassin? What was the brilliant Russian writer really like: a wise, sensible old man of patriarchal appearance—or a person prone to fateful passions?
Vivid, finely honed characterizations, the objective gaze of a historian, and magnificent Russian language—qualities present in all the writer’s works, whether historical novels, stories, articles, or essays—allow the reader to understand the events of world history more deeply.
Contents:
1. Dantès’s French career
2. Tolstoy’s Pechorin novel
3. The mystery of Tolstoy