Drawing together political and cultural history, languages and etymology, and folklore and art history, Ukraine, the Middle East, and the West is an original interdisciplinary study that reintroduces Ukraine's long-overlooked connections beyond Eastern Europe.
Prince Michael Tetov is a page for Nicholas II and is privy to wealthy Russian court society in early 1900s Russia. His mother, a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Alexander, socializes with the magnificently rich Usupovs. Michael meets Anna, a student revolutionary and servant to the family. The two fall passionately in love.When the Revolution of 1917 begins, Michael hides his mother with Anna. Anna surrenders her to the Bolsheviks and Michael, deeply betrayed, loses all hope. After another brief experience of love and loss, God is dead to him, as is his faith.Michael is sent to Siberia where he serves the "Monster of the Urals," and participates in unimaginable horrors of war and carnage. He escapes to China, then joins a close friend, the Maharaja of Shandragar, in India during the Malabar Riots. Michael's view of life is reinforced when he witnesses the ugliness of human behavior; the wealthy live as if the poverty that surrounds them is unimportant. Michael makes a decision that changes the course of his life and restores his faith in love. But fate takes another drastic turn threatening to destroy him once again. Will Michael find his happiness or will he face his worst tragedy yet?
