Douglas Smith Bücher

Der Untergang des russischen Adels nach der russischen Revolution 1917 – eine Tragödie um Terror und Tod in einer entfesselten Welt. Erstmals erzählt der renommierte Historiker Douglas Smith die ganze Geschichte. 1917 wird die russische Aristokratie im Mahlstrom der Oktoberrevolution der Bolschwisten vernichtet. Douglas Smith beschreibt die berührenden Schicksale und menschlichen Dramen, die sich dahinter verbergen. Er erzählt von nächtlichen Fluchten adliger Gutsherren, aber auch ihrer Diener, von plündernden Bauern und brennenden Herrenhäusern. Im Mittelpunkt stehen zwei der mächtigsten Adelsfamilien des Zarenreiches, die Scheremetews und die Golizyns, deren Mitglieder ermordet wurden, in sibirischen Lagern hungerten oder ins Exil gingen. Das brutale Ende einer glanzvollen Epoche Russlands und der Untergang einer prachtvollen Welt im Gefolge der Revolution – packend erzählt, mit zahlreichen historischen Fotos von Menschen und Ereignissen.

Auch hundert Jahre nach Rasputins Tod bleibt uns die wahre, historische Figur des Predigers verborgen, der wegen seinen Ausschweifungen und seiner Nähe zu den Romanovs verteufelt wurde. Bis jetzt. In seiner großen, beeindruckenden Biographie zeigt uns Douglas Smith, dass Grigori Jefimowitsch Rasputin viel mehr war – eine schillernde Persönlichkeit in einer dramatischen Wendezeit. Der renommierte Historiker hat dazu in sieben Ländern eine Fülle von neuen Dokumenten entdeckt. Darin stößt er auf einen Rasputin, der jene tiefen Widersprüche zwischen dem alten und dem neuen Russland zu deuten wusste und der umso mehr darunter litt. Damit zeichnet Smith zugleich ein eindruckvolles Panorama einer haltlos gewordenen russischen Gesellschaft am Vorabend ihres Untergangs.

A shapeshifter hero confronts ancient spirits and a secretive government agency while grappling with his troubled past. His quest to solve a pivotal murder intertwines personal stakes with a larger threat, as the outcome could have catastrophic implications for the world.

Like any of us, the characters we meet in Impossibilia have things they hide inside-secrets, fears, aspects of themselves they keep locked away -- or try to. Only their things are a little ... different.

Shortlisted, Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award, 2021Burden is the story of a seventeen-year-old British soldier, Private Herbert Burden, who was shot for desertion during World War IHe was one of hundreds so executed. It is now understood that many had committed no crime, but were suffering from PTSD. Burden’s story is told in the voice of Lance Corporal Reginald Smith, the author’s uncle. The author discovered years later in a box of papers that his uncle, Lance Corporal Smith, had befriended Private Burden but then was ultimately commanded to join in the firing squad that killed his friend. This slim book reaches below standard indictments of war―it shows us that “terrifying,” “senseless,” “horrific” don’t go deep enough. To utter them, the eye must already be closing over. Smith’s account is an object lesson in why poetry matters. It takes us to places even the best journalism can’t reach.

The second half of life presents an opportunity for growth and fulfillment, yet many struggle with the changes that come with aging, such as shifts in family dynamics, health, and relationships. This book explores the reluctance to embrace these transitions and the tendency to cling to outdated habits that may hinder personal evolution. It encourages readers to accept the invitation to evolve and find deeper meaning in this stage of life.

Presents an account of the illicit love between Count Nicholas Sheremetev (1751-1809), Russia's richest aristocrat, and Praskovia Kovalyova (1768-1803), his serf and the greatest opera diva of her time. This book focuses on the world of the Russian aristocracy, music history, and Russian attitudes toward serfdom.

The book explores the distinct mindset and strategies of successful salespeople who consistently outperform their peers. It delves into their unique thinking patterns, work ethics, and innovative approaches to selling that set them apart. By examining these differences, the author aims to provide insights that can help others enhance their sales performance and achieve greater success in their careers.

This study traces the transvaluations or transformations in value and meaning Nietzsche's work underwent during the first century of its reception in France. These transvaluations, Smith argues, resulted as various critics, both within and outside the philosophical establishment, contested Nietzsche's theories. He offers a historical perspective on the continuing importance of Nietzsche's work to contemporary debates within the arenas of philosophy and critical theory.

The riveting and harrowing story of the Russian nobility caught in the upheaval of the Revolution Winner of the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize Named a Best Book of the Year by The Kansas City Star and Salon Epic in scope, precise in detail, and heartbreaking in its human drama, Former People is the first book to recount the history of the aristocracy caught up in the maelstrom of the Bolshevik Revolution and the creation of Stalin's Russia. It is the story of how a centuries-old elite, famous for its glittering wealth, its service to the tsar and empire, and its promotion of the arts and culture, was dispossessed and destroyed along with the rest of old Russia. Chronicling the fate of two great aristocratic families—the Sheremetevs and the Golitsyns—it reveals how even in the darkest depths of the terror, daily life went on. Told with sensitivity and nuance by acclaimed historian Douglas Smith, Former People is the dramatic portrait of two of Russia's most powerful aristocratic families and a sweeping account of their homeland in violent transition.