The Cossacks have always exerted a strong pull on the imagination, whether as the ferocious horsemen who harassed the retreating Grande Armee of Napoleon all the way to the gates of Paris, or as the fiercely independent renegades who made several bloody attempts at rebellion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and were responsible for various atrocities continuing into the twentieth century. This splendidly-illustrated volume tells the tale of these great warriors, which is itself woven inextricably through the history of the Russian and Soviet empires. Career diplomat and critically-acclaimed travel writer John Ure traces the story of the Cossacks from the times of Ivan the Terrible, who first employed the horsemen of the Don to repel Tartar and Turkish invaders. From this point in history, the Tsars of Russia counted on the service, if not always the loyalty, of the Cossacks. After the period of Cossack rebellions, led successively by Bogdan, Stenka Razin, Mazeppa, and Pugachev, the Tsars once again harnessed the Cossacks for their own purposes, using them in the front lines in the wars against Napoleon and in the Caucasus, and later to suppress the fomenting revolution. Brutally repressed during the Stalin era, the Cossacks have experienced a resurgence in the post-Communist era. In the early- and mid-nineties. Cossack units were re-established in the Russian Army, and some Cossacks saw action in Bosnia and Chechmya. Once again, they are reclaiming their role in history as a force in both the political and military spheres. John Ure also traces the influence of the Cossacks on Russian culture: writers such as Tolstoy (who served in a Cossack regiment in the Caucasus). Pushkin. Lermontov, and Pasternak all romanticized the Cossacks in print. Featured in this volume in full-color are a glorious and broad selection of paintings, lithographs, and photographs that document this fascinating history. The Cossacks emerge from this narrative in all their brilliant glory -- dashing and cruel, unpredictable and immensely brave. Book jacket.

In the spring of 1880, a group of American cowboys joined by a band of cossacks trek across the siberian wilderness to deliver cattle to a starving town.

The Ukrainian Cossacks, often compared in historical literature to the pirates of the Mediterranean and the frontiersmen of the American West, constituted one of the largest Cossack hosts in the European steppe borderland. They became famous as ferocious warriors, their fighting skills developed in their religious wars against the Tartars, Turks, Poles, and Russians. By and large the Cossacks were Orthodox Christians, and quite early in their history they adopted a religious ideology in their struggle against those of other faiths. Their acceptance of the Muscovite protectorate in 1654 was also influenced by their religious ideas. In this pioneering study, Serhii Plokhy examines the confessionalization of religious life in the early modern period, and shows how Cossack involvment in the religious struggle between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicisim helped shape not only Ukrainian but also Russian and Polish cultural identities.

In the years following the Napoleonic Wars, a mysterious manuscript began to circulate among the dissatisfied noble elite of the Russian Empire. Entitled The History of the Rus', it became one of the most influential historical texts of the modern era. Attributed to an eighteenth-century Orthodox archbishop, it described the heroic struggles of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Alexander Pushkin read the book as a manifestation of Russian national spirit, but Taras Shevchenko interpreted it as a quest for Ukrainian national liberation, and it would inspire thousands of Ukrainians to fight for the freedom of their homeland. Serhii Plokhy tells the fascinating story of the text's discovery and dissemination, unravelling the mystery of its authorship and tracing its subsequent impact on Russian and Ukrainian historical and literary imagination. In so doing he brilliantly illuminates the relationship between history, myth, empire and nationhood from Napoleonic times to the fall of the Soviet Union.

Cowboys take cattle from Montana to Vladivostok, and Cossacks join them to drive the cattle across Siberia.

This Novel is based on a true story about, Lambert Roth, and his two brothers, Xavier and Michael. They immigrated from Germany to Russia in the 19th century in an effort to avoid a revolution. Their father obtained a homestead in Russia which was free to immigrant German farmers in an effort to help feed the starving Russian populace at that time. The Russian Military quickly kidnapped the three brothers at gunpoint and forced them to fight in the notorious Russian Cossacks. *They were trained to kill or be killed and they lived and died by that creed. They were subjected to endless bloody battles over the next 6 years, narrowly escaping death on a daily basis. They continued to protest to the Russian authorities about their illegal abduction, and finally the were given their releases and visas to America and Spain. Michael, the youngest brother, married Princess Isabella of the royal family of Spain. They lived a life of splendor until she was killed by an assassins bomb on the steps of the royal palace. Sonja, a former fiance'e of Michaels', stopped by to visit him and learned of his wife's recent demise. A new romance soon evolved between them re-igniting a love affair that had never died. The family continued their saga of love and life and were constantly blessed by God.

This 1862 novel, in a vibrant new translation by Peter Constantine, is Tolstoy' s semiautobiographical story of young Olenin, a wealthy, disaffected Muscovite who joins the Russian army and travels to the untamed frontier of the Caucasus in search of a more authentic life. While striving to adopt the rough and ready lifestyle of the local Cossacks, Olenin falls in love with a free-spirited girl whose fiancé turns out to be a formidable opponent. Showcasing the philosophical insight that would characterize Tolstoy' s later masterpieces, this long overdue translation is a revelation.

This book covers 500 years of the history of the Cossacks -- the recklessly brave, wild horsemen, or the romantic hero of the steppe, or the brutal mounted policemen, as they have been remembered throughout history. A lucid and engaging book that conveys the passion, exuberance and tragedy of these extraordinary people, it will be enjoyed by students, scholars and general readers interested in Russian history.