Steven Conte, The Tolstoy Estate

 

- From Steven Conte, the author of the magnificent 2007 prize-winning novel The Zookeeper's War comes this very impressive, long-awaited and hugely enjoyable The Tolstoy Estate.  

- From the opening pages the reader is hooked. The characters are thoroughly engaging and their conversations lively. They are part of a German medical battalion during the Reich's invasion of Russia in 1941. Paul Bauer, a senior surgeon, has a heart; his commanding officer and head surgeon Julius Metz does not.  

- For six weeks they are stationed at the former grand estate of Count Leo Tolstoy, author of the classic War and Peace. It becomes an emergency hospital treating wounded German soldiers. We are not spared the graphic detail of the severely wounded and the intensity of the surgical operations performed in very difficult circumstances. There are frequent and horrific deaths. It's immensely sad. And it is winter with temperatures averaging minus 20 every day. Frostbite is everywhere.

- A central character is the young Russian woman, Katerina, who is acting head custodian of the estate and a Tolstoy expert. She speaks perfect German but she loathes and detests the invading Nazis, and doesn't hold back. She's as sharp as a tack and is delightful. She constantly reminds the Germans of Napoleon's defeat in the winter of 1812, and looks forward to their similar fate.

- Conte's focus is the many dimensions of the human soul amidst the horror of war.  Love, art, literature, friendship, healing, dedication, compassion, intimacy, joy, and pain. And, of course, life-saving surgery. ‘Whatever the fate of individuals might be, Tolstoy seemed to say, the rhythms of life would remain the same’. War and Peace becomes a companion, parallel narrative, like theme music to a movie.

- Sprinkled with embossed snow drops the cover of this novel, designed by Catherine Casalino, is one of the most beautiful and imaginative you're likely to see.

- Give this book as a Christmas present to a loved one. You'll be loved in return. It's that good.

Zachary D Carter, The Price of Peace

 

- This is a magnificent book, utterly absorbing. In intricate detail it portrays the life, ideas and legacy of one of the great minds and most influential thinkers of the 20th century. 

- But it's not just about John Maynard Keynes and his breakthrough economic insights. Its scope is much wider. All the major political events of the last 100 years are covered - World War 1 and the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Fascism and Hitler in the 1930's, World War 2 and its aftermath, subsequent political and economic crises across the globe in the latter half of the 20th century, including Vietnam and Iraq, and lots more.

- The ideas and theories of other highly influential economists, some who supported Keynes and some who absolutely abhorred him, are also outlined in detail, such as John Kenneth Galbraith, Friedrich Hayek, Paul Samuelson, Joan Robinson and Milton Friedman. 

- Key politicians in Britain, Europe and the US, and the crises they faced, and how these economists were critically important in framing their policies and decisions, bring the story so much to life. In fact it's riveting.

- Carter has pulled off a major achievement here. He has been able to structure a narrative of theory, politics and biography that reads like a novel. It sucks you in and won't let you go.

- Very highly recommended.