The Sabres of Paradise: Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus

The Sabres of Paradise was first published in 1960, a hundred years after the story it recounts had ended. The Soviet Union was at the height of its power and the Caucasus had been coerced into submissive conformity by the brutalities of Stalin. Today, the narrative is a lot more relevant - post-Vietnam, post-Afghanistan, post-Soviet Union and post-September 11. A dramatist by training, Lesley's Blanch's bold work of narrative non fiction - the definitive biography of Imam Shamyl - builds t...