Owen Matthews est un écrivain et journaliste britannique qui se concentre sur l'histoire et la politique contemporaine de la Russie et de l'Europe de l'Est. Son travail se caractérise par une profonde compréhension des complexités de la région, alliant perspicacité journalistique et contexte historique. Matthews explore l'essence des événements clés et des forces sociales qui ont façonné la Russie moderne et sa relation avec le monde. Son écriture est appréciée pour sa clarté, sa finesse et sa capacité à offrir des perspectives nouvelles sur des sujets apparemment familiers, offrant aux lecteurs une compréhension plus riche de cette région mondiale vitale.
Expatrié à Moscou, Roman Lambert s'épanouit dans la jungle postsoviétique des années 1990. Orgies, violence, luxe, corruption : une jouissive métamorphose pour ce jeune Anglais enviant la dépravation de ses nouveaux "amis". Jusqu'à sa rencontre avec Sonia, aussi belle et tragique qu'une peinture du Caravage, et cet acte irréparable, qui précipiteront sa descente aux enfers... Avec ce récit vertigineux, l'auteur remarqué des Enfants de Staline offre une troublante et lucide plongée au coeur de l'âme russe. Fascinant.
Chernigov, 1937 : Boris Bibikov est victime des purges staliniennes. Sa femme est envoyée au goulag. Ses filles, Lyudmila, 3 ans, et Lenina, 12 ans, sont seules face à la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Londres 1969 : Lyudmila et Mervyn Matthews, l'Anglais qui a refusé les avances du KGB, se retrouvent au bout de six ans. Moscou années 1990 : leur fils Owen quitte l'Angleterre pour un poste de reporter.
The new novel from a master of the Cold War thriller . . . 'This is Robert Harris storytelling territory' Daily Mail 'Outstanding' Sunday Times 'Tense, exciting and authentic' Charles Cumming, author of Judas 62 'Stunning' The Times 'Brilliantly plotted' John Sweeney, author of Killer in the Kremlin 'A standout thriller' Financial Times 1963. In a desolate Russian penal colony, a radio broadcasts news of the killing of President John F. Kennedy . . . Alexander Vasin's new posting as director of a brutal gulag camp is far from a promotion. This is where disgraced KGB officers are sent to disappear, quietly, and forgotten. But when a violent revolt breaks out, Vasin must decide- run or die. So he runs. With him goes a mysterious prisoner - an individual who might hold the key to an extraordinarily dangerous secret- the identity of who really ordered Kennedy's assassination. Racing from bleak Siberian wastelands to the grey streets of Soviet Moscow, Vasin needs to stay one step ahead of the most ruthless intelligence organization in the world in order to keep the most wanted man in Russia alive. And with his loyalty, morality and patriotic duty tested to the limits, he will face the ultimate choice- fall in line, or die fighting the system . . . Weaving together a critical moment in history with the cut-throat machinations of Soviet politics, this tautly told, nail-bitingly atmospheric novel is a superb Cold War thriller.
'This is Robert Harris storytelling territory and is told with equal panache and authenticity. There could be no higher praise.' Daily Mail One the least known but most terrifying moments in modern history - when the fate of the world lay with a lone, nervous Soviet naval officer one hundred meters under the Caribbean sea - lies at the heart of this breathtaking new Cold War thriller from the author of the acclaimed Black Sun. The year is 1962, and KGB Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin is searching for ghosts- for evidence of the long-rumoured existence of an American spy embedded at the highest echelons of Soviet power. But it's while on this wild goose chase, a high-stakes espionage race against a rival State agency, that Vasin first hears whispers of an ominous top-secret undertaking- Operation Anadyr. As tensions flare between Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy over Russian missiles hidden in Cuba, four Soviet submarines - each carrying tactical ballistic missiles armed with thermonuclear warheads - are ordered to make a covert run at the U.S. blockade in the Caribbean . . .
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE PRIZE'The most formidable spy in history' IAN FLEMING'His work was impeccable' KIM PHILBY'The spy to end spies' JOHN LE CARRBorn of a German father and a Russian mother, Richard Sorge moved in a world of shifting alliances and infinite possibility. In the years leading up to and during the Second World War, he became a fanatical communist - and the Soviet Union's most formidable spy. Combining charm with ruthless manipulation, he infiltrated and influenced the highest echelons of German, Chinese and Japanese society. His intelligence proved pivotal to the Soviet counter-offensive in the Battle of Moscow, which in turn determined the outcome of the war itself. Drawing on a wealth of declassified Soviet archives, this is a major biography of one of the greatest spies who ever lived.
1961. Hidden deep within the forests of central Soviet Russia is a place that doesn't appear on any map: a city called Arzamas-16. Here a community of dedicated scientists, technicians and engineers are building the most powerful nuclear device the world will ever see - 3,000 times more powerful than Hiroshima
