Alexander Vassilieff's Blog: ODYSSEYA An Epic Journey from Russia to Australia ISBN 978-0-646-48901-8
January 15, 2010
ODYSSEYA
January 14, 2010
Alexander Vassilieff, Author
Alexander Vassilieff is a descendent of the colonists who are personified in his first epic novel, a biography of his family.ODYSSEYA - An Epic Journey from Russia to Australia
"A fascinating and moving Australian immigrant saga set against the backdrop of ancient and modern Russian history."
Alex was born in Shanghai, China. At the age of three, he was taken to Harbin and at nine, in 1951, to Sydney, Australia. After an active career as a Professional Engineer and a long record of civic and co...
Order The Book Odysseya
How To Order Alexander Vassilieff's BookODYSSEYA
Author: Alexander Vassilieff
Paperback: 486 pages
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (August 4, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0646489011
ISBN-13: 978-0646489018
You can order ODYSSEYA at any Amazon site by simply searching the title, the authors name or the ISBN number.
You can further Google the ISBN number and find other online bookstores that carry the book.
Odysseya Preface
PREFACE (Extract from ODYSSEYA)
Life must be lived forward but it can only be understood backwards Soren Kierkegaard 1813-55
In Imperial Russia, there used to be four social classes. As in the West, the main three were the working class – peasants and labourers; the middle class or bourgeoisie – administrative personnel, merchants, clerks, professionals and clergy; and the aristocracy, including the nobility (both ‘personal’ and ‘hereditary’) and the titular (title-holders), such as princes and counts.
The fourth class, the Cossacks, was rather unique. The Cossacks were allotted land, a certain degree of autonomy and self-government. For this semiautonomy, each man was required to give twenty years of military service to the Tsar, commencing at the age of eighteen. Their services were mainly used for protection against border incursions and during times of war. At birth, the class of an individual was recorded on the birth certificate and in a special ‘Book of Births’ so there could be no future doubt as to his or her status. To some degree, the Cossack
Clans could be said to resemble the Scottish Clans; the Macgregors, MacDonalds, Campbells and so on.
This is a story which covers a period of about 200 years. It is near enough to a biography
about my family, or rather a number of families whose roots intertwine all class barriers and stretch across half the globe as they journeyed to new lands to better their lives and sometimes to save them. The story also covers briefly a period of Russian history from the beginning – the summoning of the Viking warriors to the fall of the Romanov Empire and the resulting Russian Diaspora. It does it in a way to introduce the reader, unfamiliar with the Russian beginnings, to what Russia used to be. The historical information is sourced from Old Russian chronicles, eminent historians, encyclopaedias, and word of mouth, from those who lived through some of the more recent horrors of the Russian tragedy.
The historic outline covers the development and richness of Russian thought and culture, its neverending turmoils and some of its contributions to our world.
My family’s life is deeply intertwined in Russian history and the resulting Diaspora and
typifies to the reader what millions of Russians went through during the turbulent times of the 20th century. Although I was unable to acquire all of my family’s history, I filled in the gaps the way it may have happened to the best of my ability through deductive reasoning of events – similar family behavioural patterns of blood relatives, family chitchat and factoring in of surrounding events of the time. As such I take full responsibility for any errors in the story for which I hope my ancestors will forgive me.
My grandparents and parents fled from Russia to China during the Russian Civil War
immediately after World War I. Most of my family survived two generations of the worst bloodshed, political and economic upheaval experienced during the 20th century (World War I, the Russian Civil War, Japanese occupation, World War II, Stalin’s GULAGS and Political Oppression). Although my father and two of my uncles survived Stalin’s postwar GULAGS, four of my granduncles were killed in the Russian Civil War and one distinguished himself and lived to tell the tale. Both of my grandfathers died during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, one as a result of torture, and the other from stress and related physical ailments.
My wife, who brought much love and joy to my development, experienced with her parents
and grandparents similar dislocation and turmoil in fleeing from Russia at about the same time as my family, but fleeing in the opposite direction of France and Germany. They experienced life under Hitler, the destruction of Berlin and the postwar Displaced Persons camps prior to coming here to Australia.
ODYSSEYA is available from:
(Aus) Autographed direct from author [email protected]
(NZ) www.teremok.co.nz
(US & Globally) Amazon.com
Life must be lived forward but it can only be understood backwards Soren Kierkegaard 1813-55
In Imperial Russia, there used to be four social classes. As in the West, the main three were the working class – peasants and labourers; the middle class or bourgeoisie – administrative personnel, merchants, clerks, professionals and clergy; and the aristocracy, including the nobility (both ‘personal’ and ‘hereditary’) and the titular (title-holders), such as princes and counts.
The fourth class, the Cossacks, was rather unique. The Cossacks were allotted land, a certain degree of autonomy and self-government. For this semiautonomy, each man was required to give twenty years of military service to the Tsar, commencing at the age of eighteen. Their services were mainly used for protection against border incursions and during times of war. At birth, the class of an individual was recorded on the birth certificate and in a special ‘Book of Births’ so there could be no future doubt as to his or her status. To some degree, the Cossack
Clans could be said to resemble the Scottish Clans; the Macgregors, MacDonalds, Campbells and so on.
This is a story which covers a period of about 200 years. It is near enough to a biography
about my family, or rather a number of families whose roots intertwine all class barriers and stretch across half the globe as they journeyed to new lands to better their lives and sometimes to save them. The story also covers briefly a period of Russian history from the beginning – the summoning of the Viking warriors to the fall of the Romanov Empire and the resulting Russian Diaspora. It does it in a way to introduce the reader, unfamiliar with the Russian beginnings, to what Russia used to be. The historical information is sourced from Old Russian chronicles, eminent historians, encyclopaedias, and word of mouth, from those who lived through some of the more recent horrors of the Russian tragedy.
The historic outline covers the development and richness of Russian thought and culture, its neverending turmoils and some of its contributions to our world.
My family’s life is deeply intertwined in Russian history and the resulting Diaspora and
typifies to the reader what millions of Russians went through during the turbulent times of the 20th century. Although I was unable to acquire all of my family’s history, I filled in the gaps the way it may have happened to the best of my ability through deductive reasoning of events – similar family behavioural patterns of blood relatives, family chitchat and factoring in of surrounding events of the time. As such I take full responsibility for any errors in the story for which I hope my ancestors will forgive me.
My grandparents and parents fled from Russia to China during the Russian Civil War
immediately after World War I. Most of my family survived two generations of the worst bloodshed, political and economic upheaval experienced during the 20th century (World War I, the Russian Civil War, Japanese occupation, World War II, Stalin’s GULAGS and Political Oppression). Although my father and two of my uncles survived Stalin’s postwar GULAGS, four of my granduncles were killed in the Russian Civil War and one distinguished himself and lived to tell the tale. Both of my grandfathers died during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, one as a result of torture, and the other from stress and related physical ailments.
My wife, who brought much love and joy to my development, experienced with her parents
and grandparents similar dislocation and turmoil in fleeing from Russia at about the same time as my family, but fleeing in the opposite direction of France and Germany. They experienced life under Hitler, the destruction of Berlin and the postwar Displaced Persons camps prior to coming here to Australia.
ODYSSEYA is available from:
(Aus) Autographed direct from author [email protected]
(NZ) www.teremok.co.nz
(US & Globally) Amazon.com
Odysseya Reviews
REVIEWS
A fascinating and moving Australian immigrant saga set against the backdrop of ancient and modern Russian history.
— Archbishop Hilarion, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia and NZ Russian Orthodox Church (Canadian born now Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad)
A triumph of a novel!
— Wendy O'Hanlon, Acres Australia
From Russia to China, around the world and back again – share the author's well researched family story and how he came to call Australia home.
— John Morrow's Pick...
A fascinating and moving Australian immigrant saga set against the backdrop of ancient and modern Russian history.
— Archbishop Hilarion, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia and NZ Russian Orthodox Church (Canadian born now Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad)
A triumph of a novel!
— Wendy O'Hanlon, Acres Australia
From Russia to China, around the world and back again – share the author's well researched family story and how he came to call Australia home.
— John Morrow's Pick...
Odysseya The Book
ODYSSEYA Author: Alexander Vassilieff
Paperback: 486 pages
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (August 4, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0646489011
ISBN-13: 978-0646489018
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.1 inches
Odysseya Chapter 6 Time Travel - The Marriage
Chapter 6 TIME TRAVEL - THE MARRIAGE (Extract from ODYSSEYA)
I recall a quote that goes something like this: When we are young we dream of the future. At what point in time do we begin to dream of the past? Perhaps when the future that we were dreaming of becomes the past. Put another way: We look forward to the future and then the future becomes the past. This theme of time is associated with the most widely admired and highly honoured American poet, Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963).
For as long a...
I recall a quote that goes something like this: When we are young we dream of the future. At what point in time do we begin to dream of the past? Perhaps when the future that we were dreaming of becomes the past. Put another way: We look forward to the future and then the future becomes the past. This theme of time is associated with the most widely admired and highly honoured American poet, Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963).
For as long a...
Odysseya Chapter 24
ODYSSEYA - "A fascinating and moving Australian immigrant saga set against the backdrop of ancient and modern Russian history."My biographical novel has some interesting historical asides - dispersed throughout the book which should interest history-thinkers. To arouse your interest I have included the beginning of Chapter 24 from my book, which has an indirect relationship to my story. It describes the opening gambit to the Russo/Japanese war of 1904-05. In retrospect decades later, it becam...
ODYSSEYA An Epic Journey from Russia to Australia ISBN 978-0-646-48901-8
A family of Russian colonists settles and develops new boundaries of Russia. Their journey spans over 200 years and takes them southward close to the Black Sea. Eventually they cross the vast land and
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