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The Fall of the Russian Empire
The year is 1986.
Inside the Soviet Union — the unthinkable is about to happen ...
Sweeping across the social strata of Soviet Society, from the Gulags to the highest offices in the Communist Party, from the peasantry to sophisticated literary circles, Russia is a powder keg ready to explode ...
The death of Leonid Brezhnev has left the party leaderless.
The fearless Natalya Roginova is positioning herself as a reformist figure against the brutal KGB General Semyon Kuba, who is determined to preserve the status quo.
A beautiful young student, Zoya Densky, is politicized by the arrest of her father, the central figure in a new movement to restore workers’ rights.
Igor Bukanksy, the disaffected editor of an Arts magazine, has been passed a novel of rare genius, but to publish it would be an instant death sentence.
Meanwhile the stylish wife of an American diplomat in Paris learns that the mysterious man who shared her bed the night before is a Soviet assassin.
In the great cities and on the distant steppes ... in the factories and on the farms ... in the universities and in the prison camps ... in the highest circles of government and in the lowest depths of outcast society ... giant forces are building ... Russia, in all its grandeur, brutality, and impenetrable mystery, has been transformed into a human volcano about to explode ...
Teeming with unforgettable characters, The Fall of the Russian Empire reveals the brutal realities of Soviet life and the inspiring spirit it takes to endure and overcome a violent regime.
“Fast-moving, realistic, very plausible ... Memorable and moving human dramas ... Sweeping and passionate in the grand tradition.” Publishers Weekly
“An exceptional novel of compelling interest ... Highly recommended!” Library Journal
“A big historical picture with personal subplots ... strong, rewarding!” Kirkus Reviews
Donald James (1931 – 2008) was a journalist and bestselling writer of novels, historical non-fiction and television scripts.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
Inside the Soviet Union — the unthinkable is about to happen ...
Sweeping across the social strata of Soviet Society, from the Gulags to the highest offices in the Communist Party, from the peasantry to sophisticated literary circles, Russia is a powder keg ready to explode ...
The death of Leonid Brezhnev has left the party leaderless.
The fearless Natalya Roginova is positioning herself as a reformist figure against the brutal KGB General Semyon Kuba, who is determined to preserve the status quo.
A beautiful young student, Zoya Densky, is politicized by the arrest of her father, the central figure in a new movement to restore workers’ rights.
Igor Bukanksy, the disaffected editor of an Arts magazine, has been passed a novel of rare genius, but to publish it would be an instant death sentence.
Meanwhile the stylish wife of an American diplomat in Paris learns that the mysterious man who shared her bed the night before is a Soviet assassin.
In the great cities and on the distant steppes ... in the factories and on the farms ... in the universities and in the prison camps ... in the highest circles of government and in the lowest depths of outcast society ... giant forces are building ... Russia, in all its grandeur, brutality, and impenetrable mystery, has been transformed into a human volcano about to explode ...
Teeming with unforgettable characters, The Fall of the Russian Empire reveals the brutal realities of Soviet life and the inspiring spirit it takes to endure and overcome a violent regime.
“Fast-moving, realistic, very plausible ... Memorable and moving human dramas ... Sweeping and passionate in the grand tradition.” Publishers Weekly
“An exceptional novel of compelling interest ... Highly recommended!” Library Journal
“A big historical picture with personal subplots ... strong, rewarding!” Kirkus Reviews
Donald James (1931 – 2008) was a journalist and bestselling writer of novels, historical non-fiction and television scripts.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
- GenresFiction
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1982
16 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
Donald James
58 books17 followersDonald James (born Donald James Wheal) was a British television writer, novelist and non-fiction writer.
Educated at Sloane Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridge (where he read history), James completed his National Service in the Parachute Regiment before returning to London to work as a supply teacher.
He was the author of the best-selling novels Vadim, Monstrum, The Fortune Teller and The Fall of the Russian Empire, as well as non-fiction books such as The Penguin Dictionary of the Third Reich. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms, notably Thomas Dresden and James Barwick (originally in collaboration with fellow writer Tony Barwick, another long-term contributor to the various television productions of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and their company, AP Films/Century 21).
James's career as a scriptwriter included work on TV series such as The Adventurer, The Avengers, The Champions, Department S, Joe 90, Mission: Impossible, The Persuaders!, The Protectors, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Saint, The Secret Service, Space: 1999, Terrahawks and UFO. He wrote for a total of 22 titles, including the Century 21 film Doppelgänger, and acted in small three roles between 1961 and 1962.
After spending periods in France and Ireland, he returned to London. His autobiographical account of London life during World War II, World's End, was published in 2005. A second volume of memoirs, White City, was published in March 2007.
James died in London on 24 April 2008. Married three times and divorced once, he is survived by twin daughters
Educated at Sloane Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridge (where he read history), James completed his National Service in the Parachute Regiment before returning to London to work as a supply teacher.
He was the author of the best-selling novels Vadim, Monstrum, The Fortune Teller and The Fall of the Russian Empire, as well as non-fiction books such as The Penguin Dictionary of the Third Reich. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms, notably Thomas Dresden and James Barwick (originally in collaboration with fellow writer Tony Barwick, another long-term contributor to the various television productions of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and their company, AP Films/Century 21).
James's career as a scriptwriter included work on TV series such as The Adventurer, The Avengers, The Champions, Department S, Joe 90, Mission: Impossible, The Persuaders!, The Protectors, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Saint, The Secret Service, Space: 1999, Terrahawks and UFO. He wrote for a total of 22 titles, including the Century 21 film Doppelgänger, and acted in small three roles between 1961 and 1962.
After spending periods in France and Ireland, he returned to London. His autobiographical account of London life during World War II, World's End, was published in 2005. A second volume of memoirs, White City, was published in March 2007.
James died in London on 24 April 2008. Married three times and divorced once, he is survived by twin daughters
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 21, 2017
I would guess that not since the works of Aldous Huxely and George Orwell has a novel been so prophetic.Of course some of the details were not correct in this 1982 novel -written the year of Brezhnev's death- but so much of it was to come true.The decisive years in the novel were 1980 to 1985 while in reality the decisive events that finally cracked the Soviet monolith took place from 1985 to 1991.A member of the old guard is elected after Brezhenev ,but just like Andropov and Chernenko, die within roughly a year of assuming office.There is a struggle between hardliners and reformists led by a female Gorbachev figure.Eventually the fate of the Soviet Empire is decided in a dramatic standoff in Moscow between the people of Moscow and troops loyal to the hardline Communists-chillingly like the events of August 1991-leading to the collapse of the communist monster.One by one the Soviet Republics secsede from the Union as was to really happen.The hardliners-including the KGB -conspire to stall reform but fail.A look into the heart of the communist tyranny reveals what was going on when the book was written,at a time when those on the left in the west were denying these horrors.The Free Trade Union movement mirrors Solidarity in Poland and the passions of nationalism in the Soviet colonies and in Russia itself are depicted
The book is an epic in itself with suspense,love ,hate,horror and all the ingredients of a good novel. It centers around several characters inlcuding the young and lovely Zoya Densky who symbolizes the new generation that would in fact overthrow despotism in Russia and Eastern Europe,an American diplomat and his wife;Letsukov-a Ukrainian KGB agent who turns and helps the overthrow of the Russian Empire;Igor Bukansky-a journalist who has betrayed his principals but when he finally stands up to the government is destroyed together with his lover, the sensual but tragic Lydia Petrovna-the mother of the narrator of this story. Then there is Joeph Densky-a combination of Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa and Kuletsyn-Lydia's uncle who is a renowned dissident writer and eccentric but whose bitterness and particularly his calouss refusal to help his niece and Bukansky helps seal their fate.Indeed for all the idealism of his work Kuletsyn is in my opinion exposed as a cruel and hateful figur
The book is an epic in itself with suspense,love ,hate,horror and all the ingredients of a good novel. It centers around several characters inlcuding the young and lovely Zoya Densky who symbolizes the new generation that would in fact overthrow despotism in Russia and Eastern Europe,an American diplomat and his wife;Letsukov-a Ukrainian KGB agent who turns and helps the overthrow of the Russian Empire;Igor Bukansky-a journalist who has betrayed his principals but when he finally stands up to the government is destroyed together with his lover, the sensual but tragic Lydia Petrovna-the mother of the narrator of this story. Then there is Joeph Densky-a combination of Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa and Kuletsyn-Lydia's uncle who is a renowned dissident writer and eccentric but whose bitterness and particularly his calouss refusal to help his niece and Bukansky helps seal their fate.Indeed for all the idealism of his work Kuletsyn is in my opinion exposed as a cruel and hateful figur
September 25, 2015
I know the book is thirty years old, but it makes it more amazing! Do you realize the author is one of the few who foresaw the fall of the USSR?
Of course, it did not happen exactly like that, the real story was less brutal. But just to get the idea is amazing...
Quite a good read, you will be carried on in a mixture of reality and fiction. And the questions asked by the book are still actual for some of them.
Of course, it did not happen exactly like that, the real story was less brutal. But just to get the idea is amazing...
Quite a good read, you will be carried on in a mixture of reality and fiction. And the questions asked by the book are still actual for some of them.
October 26, 2011
Good read decades ago. Plausible collapse of old USSR due to social stratification and ethnic division.
September 20, 2021
Very much of its time.
Written at the time of the techno novels depicting confrontations between the major powers, this book is very much of its time and has not aged well.
The first half of the book was entertaining and well written but the second half seemed. to get bogged down.
Entertaining but Larry Bond and Tom Clancy did it better.
Written at the time of the techno novels depicting confrontations between the major powers, this book is very much of its time and has not aged well.
The first half of the book was entertaining and well written but the second half seemed. to get bogged down.
Entertaining but Larry Bond and Tom Clancy did it better.
November 14, 2024
Vet boeiend, helemaal omdat het geschreven is voor de val de Soviet Unie. Lekker dystopisch en duister.
January 29, 2012
Seem reasonable at the time. Definitely a good book.
October 25, 2016
The best story of real time
A great chronicle of a period of time and events that actually happened developed into a great story for reading
A great chronicle of a period of time and events that actually happened developed into a great story for reading
July 22, 2012
One of the first "what if?" books I read. Entertaining and well-written.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews