Author Description

The Cossacks have always exerted a strong pull on the imagination, whether as the ferocious horsemen who harassed Napoleon's retreating army all the way to the gates of Paris, or as the fiercely independent renegades responsible for famous and bloody rebellions over the last four centuries. This splendidly illustrated volume, complete with seven maps and 89 color and black-and-white illustrations, tells the tale of these great warriors, from the times of Ivan the Terrible through the Soviet empire. It is a story of rebellion, repression, and resurgence, irrevocably intertwined with Russian history and culture. The Cossacks emerge from this narrative in all their brilliant glory-dashing and cruel, unpredictable and immensely brave.