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By Diane · 2 posts · 8 views
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What Members Thought
It's 1909 and Friedrich Martens (a real Estonian-born Russian statesman) is returning to Russia from a break in his native Estonia. We follow his thoughts and memories as he travels through Estonia on the train, approaching the Russian border.
A novel about a man who was famous for negotiating international treaties sounds like it might be dry, but this wasn't. He has long imaginary conversations with his wife about his emotional history; he thinks about a nephew who has been arrested for his par ...more
A novel about a man who was famous for negotiating international treaties sounds like it might be dry, but this wasn't. He has long imaginary conversations with his wife about his emotional history; he thinks about a nephew who has been arrested for his par ...more
I very much enjoyed Kross’ fictionisation of the life of an Estonian scholar, who rose from humble beginnings to become a preeminent international jurist, representing Russia at peace negotiations. As peace negotiations with Russia are of paramount interest right at this moment it was a fascinating look at what such negotiations involved up to 1909, when this book was set. Kross wrote his book in 1984, before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the evolvement of Estonia as an independent countr
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Reason read: Reading 1001, Estonian literature, historical fiction.
The background for the story; 1909 is the year four years after the signing of the Portsmouth Treaty, after the Russo-Japanese War in which at one blow the Japanese defeated Russia's navy. Professor Friedrich Fromhold Martens, an Estonian native. Martens became a professor of international law. Shortly after his career began, he was asked to serve the Czarist regime as an expert in treaties -- asked to put together a complete hi ...more
The background for the story; 1909 is the year four years after the signing of the Portsmouth Treaty, after the Russo-Japanese War in which at one blow the Japanese defeated Russia's navy. Professor Friedrich Fromhold Martens, an Estonian native. Martens became a professor of international law. Shortly after his career began, he was asked to serve the Czarist regime as an expert in treaties -- asked to put together a complete hi ...more
Apr 04, 2018
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Shelves:
1001,
20th-century,
1001-done,
historical-fiction,
2018-reads,
translated,
around-the-world-2018,
estonian
Jul 08, 2016
Anna Fennell
marked it as to-read
Nov 02, 2016
Ann
marked it as to-read
Apr 27, 2017
Bryan--The Bee’s Knees
marked it as boxall-list-only
Dec 28, 2017
Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount)
marked it as 1001-tbr
Jan 13, 2018
Sorobai
marked it as to-read
Jan 07, 2019
Nocturnalux
marked it as to-read
Jun 02, 2019
Yvonne
marked it as to-read
Jan 07, 2021
Kayla Tocco
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Feb 08, 2021
Christoffer Jacobsen
marked it as to-read
