Blood Red Snow White: A novel of the Russian Revolution is a novel by Marcus Sedgwick based on Arthur Ransome’s adventures in Russia during World War I and the (two) Russian Revolutions. It opens with Arthur at Coniston in 1942, and ends with Arthur and Evgenia escaping to Reval in Estonia together.
The early chapters have Old Peter the woodman of Old Peter's Russian Tales and then the Tsar, his sickly heir Alexei the Tsarevich, and his wife the Tsarina and her mad monk friend Rasputin.
Arthur goes to Russia and meets the diplomat Robert Bruce Lockhart, and Evgenia Shepelina the secretary of Trotsky. The novel is largely based on real events, although Sedgwick says there is no evidence that Arthur was dining with Lockhart on the night when Lockhart witnessed Rasputin’s infamous performance in the Yar dining club.
Links[]
- Marcus Sedgwick webpage
- Blood Red Snow White webpage
- Orion Books webpage
- Blood Red,Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick
References[]
Blood Red Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick (2007, Orion Books London) ISBN 978 1 84255 184 4