Fiction: Historical books

edited by Nick Baron

Across Eastern Europe and Russia in the first half of the twentieth century, conflict and violence arising out of foreign and civil wars, occupation, revolutions, social and ethnic restructuring and racial persecution caused countless millions of children to be torn from their homes. Nurturing the Nation examines the powerful and tragic history of child displacement in this region and the efforts of states, international organizations and others to ‘re-place’ uprooted, and often orphaned, children. By analysing the causes, character and course of child displacement, and examining through first-person testimonies the children’s experiences and later memories, the chapters in this volume shed new light on twentieth-century nation-building and social engineering and the emergence of modern concepts and practices of statehood, children’s rights and humanitarianism.

Contributors are: Tomas Balkelis, Rachel Faircloth Green, Gabriel Finder, Michael Kaznelson, Aldis Purs, Karl D. Qualls, Elizabeth White, Tara Zahra

Biographical note

Nick Baron (MA, MPhil, Oxon.; PhD, Bham, 2001) is Associate Professor in History at the University of Nottingham, UK. He has published two books and numerous articles and chapters on twentieth century Russian and East European history and historical geography.

Readership

Advanced students and scholars of Russia and Eastern Europe and of twentieth-century history, and everyone interested in the history of childhood and youth, and the history of migration and refugees.

Table of contents

List of Figures List of Tables

List of Abbreviations

Note on Archival References Abbreviations of Archives Acknowledgments

Notes on Contributors

1. Placing the Child in Twentieth Century History: Contexts and Framework

Nick Baron

2. Orphaned Testimonies: The Place of Displaced Children in Independent Latvia, 1918-26

Aldis Purs

3. Relief, Reconstruction and the Rights of the Child: The Case of Russian Displaced Children in Constantinople, 1920-22

Elizabeth White

4. Memories of Displacement: Loss and Reclamation of Home/land in the Narratives of Soviet Child Deportees of the 1930s

Michael Kaznelson and Nick Baron

5. From Hooligans to Disciplined Students: Displacement, Resettlement, and Role Modelling of Spanish Civil War Children in the Soviet Union, 1937-51

Karl D. Qualls

6. Making Kin out of Strangers: Soviet Adoption during and after the Second World War

Rachel Faircloth Green

7. Lost Children: Displaced Children between Nationalism and Internationalism after the Second World War

Tara Zahra

8. Child Survivors in Jewish Collective Memory in Poland after the Holocaust: The Case of Undzere Kinder

Gabriel Finder

9. Ethnicity, Identity and Imaginings of Home in the Memoirs of Lithuanian Child Deportees, 1941-53

Tomas Balkelis

10. Violence, Childhood and the State: New Perspectives on Political Practice and Social Experience in the Twentieth Century

Nick Baron

LIST OF FIGURES

1.1 Soviet bezprizorniki. Newspaper cartoon, 1920s.

1.2 ‘The Ideal Child’. Newspaper cartoon, 1920s.

2.1. Aleksejs Gills.

2.2. Anna Brasmanis.

2.3. Jānis Čuilītis.

2.4. Voldemars Štrekmanis.

2.5. Aleksandrs Vaniševs.

2.6. Roberts Vetterbergs.

2.7. Gabriels Matrosovs.

2.8. Teodors Griķis.

8.1 Still from Undzere Kinder of a child

8.2 Still from Undzere Kinder of Chaim Preter

8.3 Photograph from the Stroop report of a roundup of Jews during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

The stunning companion to Kate Atkinson's #1 bestseller Life After Life, "one of the best novels I've read this century" (Gillian Flynn).

"He had been reconciled to death during the war and then suddenly the war was over and there was a next day and a next day. Part of him never adjusted to having a future." 

Kate Atkinson's dazzling Life After Life explored the possibility of infinite chances and the power of choices, following Ursula Todd as she lived through the turbulent events of the last century over and over again. 

A GOD IN RUINS tells the dramatic story of the 20th Century through Ursula's beloved younger brother Teddy--would-be poet, heroic pilot, husband, father, and grandfather-as he navigates the perils and progress of a rapidly changing world. After all that Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge is living in a future he never expected to have. 

An ingenious and moving exploration of one ordinary man's path through extraordinary times, A GOD IN RUINS proves once again that Kate Atkinson is one of the finest novelists of our age.

PRAISE FOR A GOD IN RUINS:

"Atkinson isn't just telling a story: she's deconstructing, taking apart the notion of how we believe stories are told. Using narrative tricks that range from the subtlest sleight of hand to direct address, she makes us feel the power of storytelling not as an intellectual conceit, but as a punch in the gut." (Publishers Weekly ).

"A grown-up, elegant fairy tale...a humane vision of people in all their complicated splendor." (Kirkus ).

"She also continues to write, as she did in Life after Life, about the savagery of war in clarion prose that is graphic in detail and possessed of a singular melancholy. And whether it is the stoic Teddy, his practical wife, his unbelievably selfish daughter, or his neglected grandchildren, every one of Atkinson's characters will, at one moment or another, break readers' hearts." (Booklist ).

"A novel so sublime I would nominate it to represent all books in the Art Olympics. The afterword deserves a literary prize all to itself. It is, as claimed on the sumptuous proof, even better than Life After Life." (The Bookseller ).

"Only as the book unfolds is each character more fully revealed. Ms. Atkinson's artistry in making this happen is marvelously delicate and varied."  (New York Times ).

"If you loved Atkinson's Life After Life, you're in luck. If you're one of the, say, five people who didn't read it: You're still in luck--Atkinson is a master at the top of her game. A quiet, moving portrait of a guy navigating life's small pleasures and painful failures." (Marie Claire ).

Marilyn Stasio in The New York Times raved: “Peter May is a writer I’d follow to the ends of the earth.” Among the many honors received, The Blackhouse, the first novel in May’s acclaimed Lewis trilogy, won the Barry and Crime Thriller Hound awards.

In The Lewis Man, the second book of the trilogy, Fin Macleod has returned to the Isle of Lewis, the storm-tossed, wind-scoured outer Hebridean island where he was born and raised. Having left behind his adult life in Edinburgh–including his wife and his career in the police force–the former Detective Inspector is intent on repairing past relationships and restoring his parents’ derelict cottage. His plans are interrupted when an unidentified corpse is recovered from a Lewis peat bog. The only clue to its identity is a DNA match to a local farmer, the now-senile Tormod Macdonald–the father of Fin’s childhood sweetheart, Marsaili–a man who has claimed throughout his life to be an only child, practically an orphan. Reluctantly drawn into the investigation, Fin uncovers deep family secrets even as he draws closer to the killer who wishes to keep them hidden.

Already an international bestseller and winner of numerous awards, including France’s Prix des Lecteurs du Telegramme, The Lewis Man has the lyrical verve of Ian Rankin and the gutsy risk-taking of Benjamin Black. As fascinating and forbidding as the Hebridean landscape, the book (according to The Times) “throbs with past and present passions, jealousies, suspicions and regrets; the emotional secrets of the bleak island are even deeper than its peat bog.”

“As good as its superb predecessor… not only a good mystery, but also a moving and evocative portrayal of a place where the unforgiving weather is matched only by the church’s harsh patronage.”—Laura Wilson, The Guardian

“Every bit as excellent as The Blackhouse… Peter May weaves his wonderful magic and the story unfolds before you in vivid detail.”—Amanda C M Gillies, Eurocrime

“In mood and texture, Peter May’s novels, set on the Isle of Lewis, are essentially Nordic, and he bears comparison with some of the best writers from those cold desolate climes… the plot throbs with past and present passions, jealousies, suspicions and regrets; the emotional secrets of the bleak island are even deeper than its peat bog.”—Marcel Berlins, The Times

“The strength and beauty of this book lies in the exploration of the relationships between people. The characters are beautifully drawn and so true to life… The plot is intricate and cleverly fitted together… I absolutely loved this second book in the series and can safely state that May is currently unveiling a cracking series.”—CrimeSquad

“May is a masterful story-teller. He skillfully combines pathos and the themes of identity, lost love and family ties to create an exciting, page-turning thriller.”—Laura Wurzal, The Irish Examiner

“Spell-binding… the book’s a delight: bringing people and place alive in equal measure.”—Jim Kelly, ShotsMag

“The depiction of the island atmosphere is as impressive as the action.”—Julia Handford, The Sunday Telegraph

“Like all the best crime fiction its interest is not restricted to the investigation… the scenes set in the orphanage in the Dean Village are moving… crime novels may be primarily entertainments, but the best ones always offer something more. Fin’s investigation of this long-buried crime forces him to make a reassessment of his own life.”—Allan Massie, The Scotsman

After graduating from college, Jennifer isn’t sure what she wants to do with her life. She is drawn to the Appalachian Trail, a 2175-mile footpath that stretches from Georgia to Maine. Though her friends and family think she’s crazy, she sets out alone to hike the trail, hoping it will give her time to think about what she wants to do next.

The next four months are the most physically and emotionally challenging of her life. She quickly discovers that thru-hiking is harder than she had imagined: coping with blisters and aching shoulders from the 30-pound pack she carries; sleeping on the hard wooden floors of trail shelters; hiking through endless torrents of rain and even a blizzard.

With every step she takes, Jennifer transitions from an over-confident college graduate to a student of the trail, braving situations she never imagined before her thru-hike. The trail is full of unexpected kindness, generosity, and humor. And when tragedy strikes, she learns that she can depend on other people to help her in times of need.

There’s a fine line between courage and insanity…and he flings himself over it.

The Great War, Book 1

Captain Sam Dwight never thought his pre-war vow to “make a difference for good in the world” would come back to haunt him. After suffering a grievous head wound in battle, he awakens in a field hospital, barely able to utter a word.

How fast would his beautiful, determined nurse call for a straitjacket if she knew that every time a bright light flickers in his eyes, he is transported back to the trenches, reaching out to heal a wounded soldier in a flash of dazzling light?

Lily Curtis has seen many a soldier racked with guilt, but she’s never seen one will himself to induce life-threatening seizures. She fears that next time, her hands won’t be quick enough to save her handsome, apparently suicidal charge.

As rumors of an ethereal battlefield specter reach the ward, Sam becomes convinced that his front line mercy missions are real. But with each trip, he spins the roulette wheel with his own life while Lily’s love and the lives of those at the hospital hang in the balance.

The incarnation of the myth of a cursed artist, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) is a legend who became a reference for modern art. An Expressionist during the Post-Impressionist movement, his art was misunderstood during his lifetime. In Holland, he partook in the Dutch realist painting movement by studying peasant characters. Anxious and depressed, Vincent van Gogh produced more than 2000 artworks, yet sold only one in his lifetime. A self-made artist, his work is known for its rough and emotional beauty and is amongst the most popular in the art market today.

Each of the men depicted here—Joseph “Chip” Wiley, Jimmy DeValery, Harry Conners, and Theodore Rodgers—had lives, families, and careers they left behind. But they were not the only ones to report for duty: their families also had to fight daily battles through hardships, through defeats, through loss.

This book recounts their stories. Men, women, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, children: all reluctant warriors, rising to incredible challenge of wars fought on every front.

Winner of the 2014 National Book Award for Fiction · Winner of the John Leonard First Book Prize · Selected as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post Book World, Amazon, and more · National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree · New York Times Bestseller

Phil Klay's Redeployment takes readers to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos.

In "Redeployment", a soldier who has had to shoot dogs because they were eating human corpses must learn what it is like to return to domestic life in suburbia, surrounded by people "who have no idea where Fallujah is, where three members of your platoon died." In "After Action Report", a Lance Corporal seeks expiation for a killing he didn't commit, in order that his best friend will be unburdened. A Morturary Affairs Marine tells about his experiences collecting remains—of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers both. A chaplain sees his understanding of Christianity, and his ability to provide solace through religion, tested by the actions of a ferocious Colonel. And in the darkly comic "Money as a Weapons System", a young Foreign Service Officer is given the absurd task of helping Iraqis improve their lives by teaching them to play baseball. These stories reveal the intricate combination of monotony, bureaucracy, comradeship and violence that make up a soldier's daily life at war, and the isolation, remorse, and despair that can accompany a soldier's homecoming.

Redeployment is poised to become a classic in the tradition of war writing. Across nations and continents, Klay sets in devastating relief the two worlds a soldier inhabits: one of extremes and one of loss. Written with a hard-eyed realism and stunning emotional depth, this work marks Phil Klay as one of the most talented new voices of his generation.