{"product_id":"comrade-fox-stewart-hennessey-9781492931249","title":"Comrade Fox: Low-living in Revolutionary Russia","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe author was dropped by his publisher, Hodder \u0026amp; Stoughton, for wanting to write a dark comedy set in Revolutionary Russia. He wrote two in the end, published here as \u003ci\u003eComrade Fox\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSmiting the Bear\u003c\/i\u003e. He concedes these historical novels are probably not suitable for those extraordinarily sensitive readers who are easily offended and might even feel unsafe when confronted with the unwoke reality of bygone centuries.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"I never gave a monkeys for Marxism or Monarchism or Liberalism or Socialism or any ism. I've always been leery of anyone brandishing an ism - an excuse to howl at the moon if you ask me. And they're all moralists too, always got it in for someone else, usually someone like me.\" - Archibald Brinsley Fox.\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrinsley Fox, adventurer, shirker, thief, womaniser and cavalier poser, was never the stuff of heroes. But Lenin wasn't to know that when he invited Fox along to the Russian Revolution... \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIt is April 1917 when Fox breezes into Petrograd, during the Spring of Hope. He personally hopes to seduce Lenin's mistress - the bewitching Inessa Armand - and pinch a Fabergé Egg. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMeanwhile the Russian economy is going to hell in a handcart, mob rule is on the rise, and the Great War is being lost hand over fist. The place is falling apart. Yet drink and be merry is the order of the optimistic day; ideal for a man who believes that fun and moral fibre are mutually exclusive. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlas, the mood of Russia darkens over the months, and Fox's leisurely life unravels. Fleeing a brute he cuckolded, vicious conspirators and an arrest warrant, Fox charges pillar to post around collapsing Russia. From the Eastern Front - the most disastrous front in the history of warfare - into the fateful July Uprising. From a cabal of counter-revolutionaries to a botched break-in at the Catherine Palace. From a lynch mob in a Dark Age village to a bizarre, fledgling republic. From helping 'Comrade Lenin' with his ludicrous, little coup to being hounded by rabid Red Guards bent on skinning him. And onwards into the final death throes of hope... \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlong the way Fox has to face anarchic shoot-outs, violent Cossacks, dangerously desperate women, blithe fanatics, deadly disease, sinister river-gangs, hordes of rapists and even some sensible innocents, wondering where it will all end... \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eProviding a potted history of the Russian Revolution, this is a diary of horrors and heroics, written with verve and style, and scant regard for moral enhancement. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for Hennessey's first novel, Drowning in the Shallows, a contemporary satire and successful seller in the author's native Scotland: -\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"... a terrific story... one of the funniest, sharpest debuts of the year - dry, witty and cynical as hell.\"\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003eThe Big Issue\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"From the crackling start to the end of this debut novel the wit and pace are relentless and magnetic... the sexual swagger which underpins it all gives it style and presence.\"\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003eScotland on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Brilliant, intelligent and consuming writer... things ebb and flow through a series of exquisite interior monologues while his control of pace and tone are remarkably mature.\"\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003eThe List\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An unflinching, brilliantly observed debut novel of love and sex.\"\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003ePublishing News\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"... writes with tremendous energy and delivers excellent lines, supporting the manic comedy... Hennessey tells it with style.\"\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003eSunday Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Stewart Hennessey\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1492931241\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781492931249\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Createspace Independent Publishing Platform\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/04\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 424\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.36lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.94d","brand":"Stewart Hennessey","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46431365300479,"sku":"9781492931249","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_695ea76e-a379-4582-9d2e-097adc3d4615.jpg?v=1735141105","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/comrade-fox-stewart-hennessey-9781492931249","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}