The Ambassador: The Torn Island

12 hrs. 3 min.

Language Russian

Author Vyacheslav Kalikinsky

Narrator Maxim Suslov

Description

Vyacheslav Alexandrovich Kalikinsky (born October 26, 1951) is a journalist and prose writer, author of historical novels, and a member of the Union of Writers of Russia.

The plot of the spy novel “Ambassador: A Torn Island” is based on real events of the 1870s connected with the development of Russian-Japanese relations. A stumbling block on this path is the island of Sakhalin. Under the 1855 Shimoda Treaty—the first diplomatic agreement between Russia and Japan—it is recognized as their joint, indivisible possession. But active settlement of the island first by Russians and then by the Japanese intensifies the situation. To resolve the contradictions that arise, a Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador is sent to Russia’s capital—Enomoto Takeaki—who, along with his diplomatic rank, receives a new military rank: vice-admiral of the Japanese Imperial Navy. The figure of the ambassador—an educated samurai officer who miraculously survived his disgrace after a rebellion against the emperor—draws close attention from Russia’s foreign-policy establishment and becomes the subject of a major political game, in which the opponents of the current Japanese emperor pursue their own interests. Enomoto, traveling to St. Petersburg, has no idea that he is heading toward mortal danger. He finds an unexpected friend and assistant in the person of the young Russian officer Mikhail Berg.

Will he be able to save the Japanese ambassador? You’ll find out by listening to the audio version of the novel.