Most Popular Books by Boris

In April of 1994, nearly a million Rwandans were killed in what would prove to be one of the swiftest, most terrifying killing sprees of the 20th century. In Murambi, The Book of Bones, Boubacar Boris Diop comes face to face with the chilling horror and overwhelming sadness of the tragedy. Now, the power of Diop's acclaimed novel is available to English-speaking readers through Fiona Mc Laughlin's crisp translation. The novel recounts the story of a Rwandan history teacher, Cornelius Uvimana, who was living and working in Djibouti at the time of the massacre. He returns to Rwanda to try to comprehend the death of his family and to write a play about the events that took place there. As the novel unfolds, Cornelius begins to understand that it is only our humanity that will save us, and that as a writer, he must bear witness to the atrocities of the genocide. From the novel: "If only by the way people are walking, you can see that tension is mounting by the minute. I can feel it almost physically. Everyone is running or at least hurrying about. I meet more and more passersby who seem to be walking around in circles. There seems to be another light in their eyes. I think of the fathers who have to face the anguished eyes of their children and who can't tell them anything. For them, the country has become an immense trap in the space of just a few hours. Death is on the prowl. They can't even dream of defending themselves. Everything has been meticulously prepared for a long time: the administration, the army, and the [militia] are going to combine forces to kill, if possible, every last one of them."

Pelagia - bespectacled, freckled, red-haired, extraordinarily clumsy and constantly knitting - teaches gymnastics and literature, and in her spare time solves crimes. In this novel, Pelagia finds herself investigating a self-proclaimed Russian prophet, Manuila and his followers, who deny Jesus Christ and the Church. Her investigation is guided in part by ancient manuscripts, and it involves murder, deception, miracles, romance and a crisis of faith for our inimitable heroine.

The first of the interlinked plotlines is set in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. Fandorin is charged with protecting the Trans-Siberian Railway from Japanese sabotage in a pacy adventure filled with double agents and ticking bombs. Then we travel back to the Japan of the late 1870s. This is the story of Fandorin's arrival and life in Yokohama, his first meeting with Masa and the martial arts education that came in so handy later! He investigates the death of a Russian ship-captain, fights for a woman, exposes double-agents in the Japanese police, fights against, and then with the ninjas, and becomes embroiled in a suitably shocking finale.

The neutrality pact between Japan and the Soviet Union, signed in April 1941, lapsed only nine months before its expiry date of April 1946 when the Soviet Union attacked Japan. Japan's neutrality had enabled Stalin to move Far Eastern forces to the German front where they contributed significantly to Soviet victories from Moscow to Berlin. Slavinsky suggests that Stalin's agreement with Churchill and Roosevelt to attack Japan after Germany's surrender allowed him to keep Japan in the war until he was ready to attack and thus avenge Russia's defeat in the war of 1904-1905. The Soviet Union's violation of the pact and the detention of Japanese prisoners for up to ten years after the end of the war created a sense of victimization in Japan to the extent that there is still no formal Peace Treaty between the two countries to this day. Slavinsky draws on recently opened Russian archival material to demonstrate that the Soviet Union was passing information about the Allies to Japan during the Second World War. He also persuasively argues that vengeance and the (re)acquistion of land were the primary motives for the attack on Japan. The book contains empirical data previously unavailable in English and will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of Japan, the Soviet Union and the events of the Second World War.

Focussing on how the Romans made Europe work as a homogenous civilisation and looking at why we are failing to make the EU work in modern times, this is an authoritative and amusing study from bestselling author Boris Johnson.

THE 11TH BOOK IN THE BESTSELLING ERAST FANDORIN MYSTERIES SERIES EBRD LITERATURE PRIZE FINALIST 'This is Akunin on characteristic form... the pages race by' Guardian Eliza Altairsky-Lointaine is the toast of Moscow society, a beautiful actress in an infamous theatre troupe. Her love life is as colourful as the parts she plays. She is the estranged wife of a descendant of Genghis Khan. And her ex-husband has threatened to kill anyone who courts her. He appears to be making good on his promise. Fandorin is contacted by concerned friend - the widowed wife of Chekhov - who asks him to investigate an alarming incident involving Eliza. But when he watches Eliza on stage for the first time, he falls desperately in love . . . Can he solve the case - and win over Eliza - without attracting the attentions of the murderer he is trying to find? What readers are saying about the Erast Fandorin Mysteries: 'I loved how it consumes you, making you believe that you're indeed living in different era' Olga on Goodreads (five stars) 'A delightful mystery/adventure! There's a dark twist at the end that has me anxious to continue in this series' Neil on Goodreads (five stars) 'These books are a fun, riotous read that you don't want to put down until you've completed each and every one of them' Jill on Goodreads (five stars) 'Every sentence is a delight to read... I am almost feeling bereft now that I have once more run out of English copies of Akunin's work.' Kate on Goodreads (five stars) A page-turning delight perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and the Russian literary greats. Shortlisted for the inaugural EBDR Literature Prize.

An absorbing study of the tanks and the tank tactics of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht during the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II. When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Red Army had four times as many tanks as the Wehrmacht and their tanks were seemingly superior, yet the Wehrmacht won the border battles with extraordinary ease. The Red Army's tank force was pushed aside and for the most part annihilated. How was this victory achieved, and were the Soviet tanks really as well designed as is often believed? These are the basic questions Boris Kavalerchik answers in this compelling study of tank warfare on the Eastern Front. Drawing on technical and operational documents from Russian archives, many of which were classified until recently and are unknown to Western readers, he compares the strengths and weakness of the tanks and the different ways in which they were used by the opposing armies. His work will be essential reading for military historians who are interested in the development of armored warfare and in this aspect of the struggle on the Eastern Front. "So much has been written on this subject, and yet this book dispels myths and offers fresh insights in a study of Soviet and German tanks at the beginning of the war on the Eastern Front . . . a fascinating selection of images."—Firetrench "This book is highly recommended due to the excellent use of data, the organization of the book established by the author, and thoughtful and comprehensive coverage of the subject."— IPMS/USA

Offers comprehensive coverage of both qualitative and quantitative methods. This book focuses on student research projects and includes examples of theory in practice.

Fiction. In the tradition of Karl May and Franz Kafka, Boris Vian imagines an America even more amazing than the land he has never visited. I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVES is the first novel to put the quotation marks around the hardboiled thriller--a vivid and startling performance (J. Hoberman). The book is Boris Vian's (1920-1959) sex-and-violence-filled homage to American noir. Originally published in France as J'IRAI CRACHER SUR VOS TOMBES--after allegedly being censored in the U.S. and translated into French--the novel was a best seller, establishing Vian as one of the most famous writers of the mid-twentieth century.

In this book Boris Kagarlitsky offers a trenchant analysis of the break-up of the Soviet Union and the transformation of a section of the old nomenklatura into a new possessing and ruling elite. Kagarlitsky shows that Western commentators have been misled by the street theatre of events like the bungled coup of August 1991 into supposing that a fundamental break has been made with the confused politics and economics of the late Soviet period. He analyses the ill-considered and self-interested attempts made by the nomenklatura to privatize assets and inaugurate a free-market economy, finding an essential continuity between the plans of Gorbachev's and Yeltsin's advisers. He reveals, too, how the new Russian President has displayed a greater capacity to assert dictatorial powers than did the last General Secretary, a tendency which has brought him into repeated conflict with elected bodies. Boris Kagarlitsky is himself a Socialist member of the Moscow Soviet and one of the founders of Russia's new Party of Labour. The Disintegration of the Monolith furnishes both a memorable indictment of the greed and irresponsibility of Russia's new/old rulers and a fascinating account of the slow but unmistakeable awakening of forces of resistance as the peoples of Russia and the other states of the former Soviet Union confront the hyper-inflation, shortages, unemployment and general havoc wreaked by the free-market experiment. Kagarlitsky describes the gradual emergence of a new Russian trade unionism, but warns that popular discontent is also being exploited by nationalist demagogues, such as the leader of Russia's new Liberal Party. For those seeking to understand what has changed in Russia—and what has remained the same—The Disintegration of the Monolith is required reading.

These letters cover the period from 1931 to 1959, a few months before Pasternak died in official disgrace, and are written to some of his intimate friends in the Soviet republic of Georgia. Also included is a section on his Georgian friends from his autobiographical sketch/ Remember. It is a moving and tragic collection. Pasternak first went to Georgia in 1931, and the letters make clear how immediately fascinated he was by the great vitality of the Georgian literary elite. It is also made clear that if, in Russia, many writers lost their lives in the purges, an even greater number, proportionately, were wiped out in Stalin's homeland, Georgia. The larger part of the letters are addressed to his two closest friends, the two most talented Georgian poets of our century, Paolo Yashvili and Titian Tabidze, and their families. Both were victims of the great purge of 1937, and Tabidze was arrested and murdered in the same year, but his death was not made known until 1955. Pasternak remained devoted to their memory and their families until the end of his life- corresponding with them, meeting them, assisting them financially-at a time when such behavior could be dangerous, and was therefore extremely rare. The letters are a testament to his nobility and courage. As a true Russian intellectual, Pasternak pours out his soul in these letters. They contain a great deal of information about his private life, the persecutions to which he was subjected, his writings, and his views on literature. They provide many intimate insights into the Soviet literary scene. Their importance, particularly in view of Pasternak's world-wide reputation, is incontestable.