After the Romanovs: Russian Exiles In Paris From The Belle Époque Through Revolution and War, Rappaport - B

           "By the beginning of the new twentieth century, Paris was fast becoming the capital of Russia out of Russia - for those with plenty of money." "The Russian aristocracy fitted in perfectly with Le Tout-Paris of the Belle Époque...." At the turn of the century, Paris' most charming and well connected Russian aristocrat was Grand Duke Paul, fourth son of Alexander II, and Paul's wife, Olga. They introduced one of the most important Russian emigres to Parisian society in the person of Sergei Diaghilev. His mission in life was to bring Russian art to the world. In 1908, he presented the opera Boris Godunov to rave reviews and the following year, the Ballet Russes. Within a few years, the annual visit of the ballet was the height of the Parisian season. Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov were the musicians, Michel Fokine the choreographer and Vaslav Nijinsky became the first international male star. It was so successful that Diaghilev decided to replace the make-shift traveling ensemble with a permanent company in Paris. 'Rites of Spring'  made the ballet company the toast the city. The wealthy were not Paris' only emigres. Those opposed to the regime who had fled flocked to the City of Light. Artists like Chagall, and Soutine and the writer Ehrenburg came. The outbreak of war changed everything. Many returned home. Approximately 10,000 Russian Jews who had left the Pale were stateless and were told to enlist in the French army or depart. They went to Spain or America. 

           The Revolution came in 1917. Kerensky confiscated the Romanov's assets, but the real threat was the Bolsheviks, who revoked the private ownership of property. The aristocrats and intelligentsia were now enemies of the people. Many were able to escape, and France was the number one destination. However, most of the Romanov's were killed in 1918, and early 1919.  One emigre aristocrat said, "Before us darkness and terror. Behind us - horror and hopelessness." Impoverished, they left Russia and fled to wherever they could go, hoping against hope for the chance to go home. The White Army collapsed in late 1920 and 146,000 people were evacuated from the Crimea. Many went to Constantinople where one saw "former generals working in laundries or kitchens; countesses, princesses, and their kind scrubbing floors and washing dishes or ...trying to sell a blouse, a uniform, a handful of medals, a pair of boots, or an old fur coat." Obtaining a visa or passport to leave Turkey was very difficult until France signaled that it was willing to accept the Russians because it needed to replace the many men it lost during the war.

        The forced sales of their jewelry at maddeningly low prices compelled the aristocrats to seek immediate employment. The most successful endeavors were led by the woman who "with sewing, millinery and knitting" established twenty-seven fashion houses between the mid-20's and 30's. Few of the men were as fortunate as  'forced proletarianism' reduced them to menial jobs. Generals and admirals  washed cars and drove taxis. The emigres retained their affection for their church and established the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral just off the Champs-Elysees. Wealthy members of the community created La Maison Russes, as a gathering place of refuge. "There is no greater pervading sense of Orthodoxy in exile than at the now famous Russian cemetery at Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, which today contains the graves of more than ten thousand emigre Russians...several Romanovs, Prince Yusupov..." As the Russian community in Paris solidified, strengthened, and became the place where Whites congregated, it attracted the attention of the Bolsheviks. 

      After France recognized the USSR, it was easy for the Soviets to spy on the locals. Infiltration and intimidation were the primary techniques, but what the Soviets really wanted was to kidnap Romanovs and return them to the USSR. But the aristocrats began to die out, and by the end of the decade, there were few left who could be conceived as a monarchist threat. Indeed, the idea of defeating the Bolsheviks by arms faded away. As time went on, Paris began to resent the Russians presence, particularly after a deranged emigre assassinated the French president. Many began to leave for America. The ranks of those who were still therein 1940, were reduced when the Nazis took away the Jews and socialists. "By the end of the war, there were only 55,000 Russians left in France..." They too slowly faded away. 

     The concept of royalty working as doormen has been around for a long time. That which makes this book a fascinating read is putting together the details and specificity of people, wealthy and not, losing everything to revolution.

          

         

How Beautiful We Were, Mbue - B+

            This semi-autobiographical novel is set in Cameroon in the 1980s in the fictional village of Kosawa, where people are dying because their land, and particularly their water, has been poisoned by Pexton, a US oil company. Our narrator is ten year old Thula, who lost her dad a year ago when he went, with five other men, to speak to their government about their plight, and was never heard from again. When the Pexton men come to talk to the villagers for their regular quarterly meeting to tell them everything is alright, the spontaneous action of the village madman, Konga, sets in motion a sequence of unforeseeable events. The villagers kidnap the three Pexton men and their driver. Nothing happens for weeks. The villagers hope the men would give them the names of the Pexton decision makers in the capital so the village elders could go and plead for help. The Pexton men refused. One of the men tells Bongo, Thula's uncle, that absolutely no one in the government, or at Pexton, cares one iota about he people in the village. Their only hope is to speak to his nephew, an American journalist named Austin. Bongo and three other leaders head to the capital. Austin listens to their story and tells them he will write it up and send it to the US. The oldest hostage, the one who had spoken to Bongo, soon dies, leaving the villagers with an absolute sense of dread.  Government soldiers come and kill a dozen villagers. The four men who had gone to the capital and spoken to Austin are arrested. Because their actions embarrassed the government, they were tried and summarily executed.

           Years later, a formal restoration of the village is long underway thanks to the efforts of Austin. A movement in America forced Pexton to pay the villagers for all of the damage they had inflicted on Kosawa. The water supply is somewhat safer, and the children are being educated. Austin has even obtained a scholarship for Thula to attend school in New York. Thula becomes radicalized in America, and suggests to her age mates back in the village that they need to take action against Pexton. Soon, sabotage is a problem for the oil company, and the villagers are warned that the consequences could be severe. Eventually, Pexton offers a settlement involving more payments and a less polluting operation and the young men stop their sabotage. Pexton does not deliver and its excuse is litigation with the Restoration Movement in America.  By now, Thula is their leader and she begins to ponder the role of not just Pexton, but their own government as well. In 1998, a twenty-eight year old Thula returns home after being away for a decade. She begins working as a teacher for the government in the capital. Six months later, she gives her five age mates money for rifles and she continues to speak of the possibilities of revolution. Years pass with no satisfaction for Kosawa.

       When one of Thula's age mates loses his only son, the four men decide they will wait no more. They take vengeance against three nearby oil workers. After they have killed a dozen, soldiers interrogated and raped throughout the region. Thula begins the revolution in November, 2004. She goes from village to village speaking to the people. She forms a political party and arranges for a new lawsuit against Pexton.  Thula is approaching forty when the lawyers tell her that an American court would do nothing about damages in a far off place - the matter is finished. The five age mates kidnap the local American oilman and hs wife and write ransom demands. The government soldiers come, burn the village and kill Thula and her colleagues. Pexton drills where the village had been, and provides scholarships for all of the children of Kosawa. Those who were raised there in the old way tell stories to their grandchildren.

      This novel was one of the Times top ten for 2021. It is a very powerful telling of the way people in Africa once lived, and how modernity (and in this instance greed)  has drastically changed that world.

The Investigator, Sanford - B+

              This is the first in a series featuring Letty Davenport, adopted daughter and protege of Lucas, written by the author of the thirty-two Prey novels. Letty is tough as nails, smart as a whip and a helluva marksman. She is assigned by her boss, a US Senator, to team up with a DHS agent, John Kaiser, to try and sort out what's going on in the Texas oil patch, where there are suspicions that stolen oil may be funding local militias. Those militias strike in the town of Pershing with the goal of blowing the bridge over the Rio Grande, preferably with a caravan of Central Americans on it. Letty and Kaiser are on their trail, put a slight crimp in their plans and help bring a majority of the militia to justice. This is a well-done thriller, with excellent insights into the world of the right wing hate groups.

Never Saw Me Coming, Kurian - B

              There are many novels featuring psychopaths, but this one has a dozen in a program at mythical Adams University in DC under the care of a the Psychology Department's Chair. Chloe is the narrator. She came to the program, which attempts to understand and improve the lives of its participants, with an ulterior motive. Her goal is to track down a boy a few years older than she who had raped her in middle school. She is there to kill him. Along the way though, she and some of the others discover someone in the program is stalking them and trying to kill them. The book is quite uneven, but intriguing on the issue of technology. Only someone in their twenties could possibly write a story that highlights the impressive skills of today's college students.

The Murrow Boys: Pioneers in the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism, Cloud and Olson - B+

              Because of the pioneering and pivotal role played by Edward R. Murrow and those who worked with him, the starting question for any group biography is who qualifies as one of the Boys. The authors decided on Mary Breckinridge, Cecil Brown, Winston Burdett, Charles Collingwood, William Downs, Thomas Grandin, Richard Hottelet, Larry LeSeur, Eric Sevareid, William L. Shirer, and Howard K. Smith. All but two were hired by Murrow and all worked with him during the war, or as part of the CBS team. "The Boys story of triumph and disappointment has all the sweep and drama of epic fiction." This "is a wholly factual account of how legends are born and dreams die."

            At CBS radio, its fledgling news department hired a director of talks for Europe in 1937, Ed Murrow, who in turn hired Shirer. They were CBS' only overseas reporters. They created overseas radio reporting as equals, but had a massive falling out a decade later. Murrow was refused acceptance in London's Foreign Correspondents Association, while Shirer was a well known reporter who was in Berlin when he was hired. New York asked for a roundup of Europe's reaction to the Anschluss, and Shirer delivered CBS' first radio news broadcast from London. "They set in motion a chain of events that would lead, in only one year, to radio's emergence as America's chief news medium and to the beginning of CBS' decades-long dominance of broadcast journalism." With Murrow in London and Shirer in Berlin, they reported Europe's slide to war. After the invasion of Poland, Murrow hired Grandin and Sevareid in Paris, LeSeur in London, and Breckinridge in Amsterdam. They reported on the phony war and Shirer continued to provide information from Berlin. Sevareid was the first to report that the Germans had broken through the Maginot Line, and later the first to announce France's capitulation. Shirer was in Compiegne to cover and broadcast the surrender of France. 

           "The Battle of Britain was about to begin. In a sense the Blitz was what Edward R. Murrow had been preparing for since he arrived in Europe in 1937." He and his Boys were now participants as they reported with the noise of bombs falling, and sirens wailing in the background. Beginning on Sept. 7th, London was bombed fifty seven nights in a row. Murrow's opening statement, "This -  is London" is likely the most famous opening introduction of any news report in history. Nightly, Murrow, Sevareid and LeSeur brought London's travails into American homes. Before the Blitz, 16% of Americans believed we should help the British. After one month of Murrow's reporting, the number moved up to 52%.  Edward R. Murrow, a poor boy from NC, was the toast of the town. However, for his great friend in Berlin, Bill Shirer, broadcasting from the German capital was wearing him out. He took leave to write a book and never returned. Murrow was crushed.

           When Sevareid was back in NY for a break, he realized something that he was sure the Boys didn't appreciate. They were stars, thanks to CBS' vast publicity operation and the fact that millions listened to them every day. Shirer's return to NY was front page news in the Times. He published 'Berlin Diary' which was a huge bestseller and CBS offered him his own show. Murrow hired Collingwood in London in the winter of 1941. Like almost everyone Murrow hired, Collingwood  had a strained  relationship with his dad, was filled with insecurities, and eventually, like all of them, wound up adoring Murrow. As the war spread,  Murrow brought on Brown in Italy and Burdett in Turkey. Smith joined the team in Berlin.  By that time, it was impossible to report from Germany and Smith received his exit visa on Dec. 5th and actually left on the 7th. America was now in the war.

        Brown was in Singapore when the Pacific war started and went to sea on the HMS Repulse. He was one of those rescued when it and the HMS Prince of Wales were sunk. Brown was so difficult that the British expelled him days before Singapore fell.  Brown went back to NY to receive awards and was promoted to a coveted sponsored spot, joining Shirer as true blue bloods in the business. Sponsored time on the radio could be worth a thousand dollars per week, but Brown ran afoul of his sponsors with his highly opinionated left wing observations. It was a point in time when those sponsors exerted influence on CBS and Brown left in a huff. 

      Sevareid was preparing to be the head of the DC bureau, but was bored and wanted to get back in the field. The administration suggested he go to China and off he went. On the way, he had to bail out of a plane over northern Burma and hike 120 miles through a jungle to get back to India. After a brief tour in Chunking he returned to Europe. "During the exhilarating few months before the invasion of France, Murrow and the Boys strode through London and Europe like lords of the realm, admired and respected by peers and heads of state... Time and again they scooped their print competitors...Newspapers and magazines printed articles about them." Of the few dozen embedded journalists approved for D-Day, five were from CBS. Le Seur landed on Utah beach in the early morning and provided the best coverage. The Boys marched across France and into Germany with the troops. Hottelet was the first into Germany,  the first to report the Battle of the Bulge, and in the spring, parachuted out of a burning B-17. He was with the Yanks who met the Soviets on the Elbe and the first into Berlin. Collingwood was there when Jodl surrendered. Murrow reported V-E Day from London. As they headed into the post-war world, Murrow wrote "I cannot believe that I shall again have the high privilege of working intimately and harmoniously with a crew such as the one we gathered in Europe."

    This is a truly great book about very famous pioneering Americans. I remember many of them who eventually transitioned to tv. I've read biographies of Murrow and  Cronkite (UPI) and have as much respect for these men as I do for the boys who fought the war. Thanks to my brother for the recommendation. Note that I chose to not read the last third of the book, where the topics are infighting, the struggles with management, moving to tv, and the eventual gutting of the CBS' news division.

Operation Thunderbolt: Flight 193 And The Raid On Entebbe Airport, The Twentieth Century's Greatest Special Forces Mission, David - B+

          On June 27, 1976, Air France Flight 193 from Tel Aviv to Paris added a stop to its itinerary. Many of the passengers were alarmed when they learned that Athens was now scheduled, as the Greek capital's airport was known for its lax security. Eight minutes after takeoff from Athens, a German who had just boarded took out a pistol and told the pilot to fly to Libya. Two hijackers were German and two Palestinians. Twelve crew and 246 passengers (83 Israelis) were aboard. The plane refueled at Benghazi and took off again later in the day. At 3:20 AM the next day, the Airbus 300 landed in Entebbe, Uganda. It appeared as if the Ugandans were in on the hijacking. Idi Amin, the president for life dictator, was no friend of the Israelis or the West.

       The Israelis started to think through what they could do to rescue people 2,000 miles away. On the third day, the hijackers published their demands for the release of dozens of prisoners, mostly in Israel and W. Germany. On June 30th, forty seven hostages, mostly older or children, were set free and flown to France. Another hundred were freed on the 1st, including non-Israeli Jews. Israel announced it would negotiate with the hijackers, although there was little agreement amongst the cabinet about actually following through. The Israeli Defense Force came up with a plan that involved flying five US built Hercules C 130's to Entebbe and taking out the hijackers. The Israelis were confident that the Ugandans would not fight them. Arrangements were made to refuel for the return in Kenya.  On the second, the Israeli cabinet approved the rescue attempt.

       At 1:40 PM on the afternoon of the 3rd, the planes took off from the Sinai. They flew south over the Red Sea at an altitude of 100 feet. Each plane was two tons over the maximum weight for lift off. They landed a minute after midnight in Entebbe. The lead plane carried a Mercedes and two Land Rovers. The commandos were dressed as Ugandan soldiers. The Mercedes was painted to look just like the one that Idi Amin used. Fifty yards from the terminal, the raid's commander, Lt. Col. Yoni Netanyahu, shot a guard, leading to a machine gun returning fire from the tower. Ironically, Netanyahu, the only special forces casualty, was hit immediately. In less than 10 minutes, the hostages were freed, the hijackers were dead, as were 20 Ugandan soldiers. Three hostages caught in the crossfire were also dead. As an accommodation to the Kenyans, the commandos destroyed the dozen Ugandan MIGs. The Israelis were all back in the air less than two hours after landing.

        The commandos were welcomed and hailed in Israel and considered as important as those who had won Israel's many wars. Their success led to every western nation adopting special anti-terrorist commando units. The author quotes noted British historian Max Hastings at length. "In a world of tragedies and frustrations, few people...have forgotten the great uplift that day gave us. Terror was not invincible. Outrage could be fought and conquered. But only the Israelis...could have displayed the boldness and brilliance to launch and execute such an operation, half a continent away.""With hindsight, that day might also be perceived as the high-water mark of Israel's standing in the world, as a bastion of Western values in the Middle East, and a force for the pursuit of justice and freedom. Thereafter, amid the growing rancor of failed diplomacy, the brutal suppression of Palestinian dissent and the invasion of Lebanon, world sentiment drifted steadily away from support for Israel's policies." This is great read and highly recommended. Thanks to my brother Will for the recommendation.

      

    

Personal Librarian, Benedict and Murray - B+

            This fabulous novel is an imagining of the career of Belle da Costa Greene, a woman of African-American descent who passed as white. She was so brilliant, savvy and witty that she worked for J.P.Morgan and helped to assemble his world-famous library. She was from a family of college-educated Blacks and had worked as a librarian at Princeton for six years before she was hired by Morgan. She quickly becomes his right hand and partner in art acquisitions. Soon, she's at the Opera, the Symphony and parties at the Vanderbilt's. Throughout her time mingling with the rich and negotiating in the all-male world of art dealers, she is on guard. The line is that her grandmother was Portuguese, but one misstep can out her.

          A month long fling with a noted expert on Italian art while in Europe, and the termination of a pregnancy, throw her structured life into turmoil. After a stern remonstrance from her mother, she pulls it together and is on the job in the spring of 1913 when she learns that Morgan has died in Rome. She is alone. She slowly recovers and JP's son, Jack, advises her that she will stay on permanently and that his father bequeathed her $50,000. She continues to dazzle the art world, and reconciles with her father, who had started her on the path toward art studies when she was younger. She hopes to convince Jack to make the library a public one. He does and in 1924 it becomes a public reference library and art gallery, with Belle as its director.

      Belle retired in 1948 and died two years later. It appears she never publicly acknowledged passing in the white world. This a great book, one of the NYT's top ten of 2021. Thanks so much to Wendell for the recommendation.

Massacre Pond, Doiron - B+

           A wealthy woman has plans for the hundreds of thousands of acres she has purchased in Washington County, Maine. She would like to donate the land for the creation of a new national park. Every elected official in the state is opposed, as are all of her neighbors. People there need the land to hunt, fish, and work. Ten moose are murdered near her home, her house is shot up and her college age daughter is murdered. The lieutenant in charge assigns Mike a bunch of meaningless chores, but he sticks to his assignment and plays it by the book. On the periphery of the investigation, he sees enough to solve it on his own. 

Nine Lives, Swanson - B

       This is a modern iteration of Agatha Christie's famous 'And Then There Were None.' A dying New England man thinks back to the tragic death of his ten year old sister sixty years ago and plots the deaths of the children of those who contributed to it. He sends a list to nine people with no explanation and no hints about what the list is about. As one of the recipients is an FBI agent, the first death is noticed and a nationwide search ensues. This is a fast paced, well done page turner.

Midnight Murders, John - B+

             This is a finely done fast paced thriller set in a massive psychiatric hospital in the UK. The key character, Trevor, is a cop who got so badly beaten that he has been there for months recovering. When bodies start popping up in the garden, his colleagues descend in full force to solve the murders. The background is the complexities of the institution, its decrepit physical plant, its overwrought doctors and nurses and its philandering director.