An extraordinary, profoundly moving and thought-provoking novel tracing the rise and fall of communism through its impact on three generations of one family: the narrator's grandfather, who deserted from the Red Army in the chaotic aftermath of the 1917 revolution; his father, who survived the Eastern front in WWII only to be killed with his wife in one of Stalin's purges; and the narrator himself - Soviet army doctor turned spy who, after the fall of communism, discovers his missing girlfriend was betrayed by a double-agent and flies to Florida bent on revenge. A searing portrait of the suffering caused in the name of politics, yet also a celebration of ordinary people's decency, compassion and courage.

Most Western models suggest that in the face of open threats to the military's core interests, the army would have fought to keep the status quo. Yet the military actually facilitated the introduction of a new democratic polity and in the process dug its own grave. Trained under a Russian-inspired system that minimized the role of the individual, this group was suddenly exposed to the radically different 'Innere Fuehrung' concept that lies at the heart of the Bundeswehr's ethos.

Makine's most ambitious and uncompromising work, "Requiem for a Lost Empire" is a three-generation epic unfolding across 80 years of Russian history, from Czarist times to the fall of Communism. Sweeping readers into a Graham Greene-style thriller that opens up like a sinister Russian doll, this novel rivals the depth and ingenuity of Nabokov and the sweep of Tolstoy.

First Published in 2010. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This international bestseller has been translated into 26 languages and is the first work to win both of France's top literary honors. "A masterpiece. . . . Makine belongs on the shelf of world literature--between Lermontov and Nabokov, a few volumes down from Proust".--"The Atlanta Journal".

The continuing adventures of Rhapsody, The Brother and Grunthor, three of the most engaging characters of modern fantasy, will take the reader ever further into the extraordinarily imagined, complex and exciting world of Elizabeth Haydon's landmark fantasy books. This is a series that spans epochs of time in a richly imagined, carefully thought out, wholly entrancing world. Haydon is unusual in her ability to create great characters, original slants on fantasy standards and cohesive imaginary worlds. This is the standout fantasy series of the early 21st century.

A tale of secrets and miracles