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Beevor's 'gripping' Russia book a lead title for W&N
Antony Beevor’s take on a "devastating struggle" that took place in Russia following the collapse of the Tsarist empire will be published in May by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (W&N).
The Orion imprint’s former chairman and non-fiction publisher Alan Samson acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada for Russia: Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921. The deal was struck with Andrew Nurnberg at Andrew Nurnberg Associates.
A lead title for the list, it will be supported by a “wide-ranging and impactful campaign” in hardback, e-book and audio, scheduled for 26th May 2022.
The blurb reads: “Between 1917 and 1921 a devastating struggle took place in Russia following the collapse of the Tsarist empire. Many regard this savage civil war as the most influential event of the modern era. An incompatible White alliance of moderate socialists and reactionary monarchists stood little chance against Trotsky’s Red Army and Lenin’s single-minded Communist dictatorship. Terror begat terror, which in turn led to even greater cruelty with man’s inhumanity to man, woman and child. The struggle became a world war by proxy as Churchill deployed weaponry and troops from the British empire, while armed forces from the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Poland and Czechoslovakia played rival parts.”
According to W&N, Beevor uses the most up to date scholarship and archival research to assemble "the complete picture in a gripping narrative that conveys the conflict through the eyes of everyone from the worker on the streets of Petrograd to the cavalry officer on the battlefield and the woman doctor in an improvised hospital”.
W&N editorial director Maddy Price said: “A new book from Antony Beevor is always an important event, and Russia is a gift for Beevor’s readers old and new. In his most dramatic narrative yet, the epic story of Russia’s revolution and civil war comes alive. We are thrilled to welcome Antony back to Weidenfeld & Nicolson for this major publication.”
Beevor commented: “I first longed to work on this fascinating subject more than thirty years ago, but I was not ready then and the extraordinary material in the archives was not available. The wait was certainly worth it. I think it is my most important book.”
The author’s award-winning books have appeared in 34 languages and have sold more than eight million copies. A former chairman of the Society of Authors, Beevor has received a number of honorary doctorates. He is also a visiting professor at the University of Kent and an honorary fellow of King’s College, London. He was knighted in 2017.
