"His new historical novel, Professor Martens' Departure, is written in the classic elegaic style reminiscent of Giuseppe di Lampedusa's The Leopard, and it evokes the complex world of Czarist Russian society at the turn of the century."

Professor Martens' Departure

Literature & Fiction

Kross, Jaan

Contemporary

New Press

Timo von Bock, a Baltic nobleman, is imprisoned for nine years because of a critical letter he sent to Czar Alexander I

CZAR'S MADMAN

Pantheon

The second part in an epic historical trilogy - The Estonian answer to Wolf Hall - by the nation's greatest modern writer The year is 1563, and by any account Balthasar Russow can be said to have risen in the world. Fresh from his studies in the German town of Stetten, he has assumed the role as pastor of Tallinn's Holy Ghost Church. Moreover, he is betrothed to a maiden of the town - much to the chagrin of her father, who has no wish to welcome peasant stock to the family when there is no shortage of upstanding young German men - and is poised to begin the chronicle that will ensure his everlasting fame.But tribulations still await the now not-quite-young Pastor - Livonia is still plagued by foreign powers, with Tallinn braced to withstand a prolonged Muscovite siege. And he will discover that marriage is often a battlefield in itself.Translated from the Estonian by Merike Beecher

A People without a Past: Between Three Plagues Volume 2 (Between Three Plagues 2)

MacLehose Press

Book Of Falsehoods

Genre Fiction

Quercus Publishing

Professor Martens, an Estonian jurist, arranges a major loan with the French government to prevent starvation in Russia, but realizes his work has helped perpetuate a totalitarian regime

New Pr

Widely read in Europe, the Estonian novelist Jaan Kross is considered one of the most important writers of the Baltic region, and is an often-named candidate for the Nobel Prize.
His new historical novel, Professor Martens’ Departure, is written in a classic elegiac style reminiscent of Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, and it evokes the complex world of czarist Russian society at the turn of the century. The character of Professor Martens is based on an actual official of the czarist reign, a distinguished Estonian jurist curiously reminiscent of Henry Kissinger.
Faced with a dire financial crisis in Russia, Professor Martens orchestrates a major loan from the French government to stave off famine; as time passes, however, he realizes that he has managed to perpetuate a brutal regime that keeps its political prisoners in chains.
This fictional memoir, written at the end of Martens’ life, finds him reliving his past and questioning the degree to which he has sacrificed himself to maintain a corrupt regime, one that ultimately disdains both him and his people. Considered an outsider by the czar’s adviser, Martens is nonetheless needed for his skills. Still, he is marginalized and kept in the shadows.
Far more than just a political or philosophical novel, Professor Martens’ Departure is an astonishing reconstruction of czarist Russia.

The New Press

The Czar’s Madman combines the elements of a gripping historical novel with the profound sensibilities of a great writer wrestling with the deepest moral issues of our day.
 When Colonel Timotheus von Bock, a Baltic nobleman and a favorite of the czar, returns a hero from the battlefields of Europe in 1813, he is convinced that new and better ways are coming and is determined to play his part in bringing them about. But he soon scandalizes his fellow aristocrats, first by marrying a peasant's daughter, then by condemning the czar’s tyrannical rule. The reaction is prompt: von Bock is banished from his estate and imprisoned for nine years.
 Von Bock’s story is the main thread in a richly worked tapestry evoking Russia and its Baltic provinces after the fall of Napoleon. Recounting this compelling tale, Jaan Kross takes the reader deep into the passions of a time and country that foreshadow the tragedies of our own century.

The Czar's Madman

<div>The second part in an epic historical trilogy - The Estonian answer to Wolf Hall - by the nation's greatest modern writer The year is 1563, and by any account Balthasar Russow can be said to have risen in the world. Fresh from his studies in the German town of Stetten, he has assumed the role as pastor of Tallinn's Holy Ghost Church. Moreover, he is betrothed to a maiden of the town - much to the chagrin of her father, who has no wish to welcome peasant stock to the family when there is no shortage of upstanding young German men - and is poised to begin the chronicle that will ensure his everlasting fame. But tribulations still await the now not-quite-young Pastor - Livonia is still plagued by foreign powers, with Tallinn braced to withstand a prolonged Muscovite siege. And he will discover that marriage is a often a battlefield in itself. Translated from the Estonian by Merike Beecher</div>

A People without a Past: Between Three Plagues Volume 2 (Between Three Plagues, 2)

<div>The first part in an epic historical trilogy - The Estonian answer to Wolf Hall - by the nation's greatest modern writer Jaan Kross's trilogy dramatises the life of the renowned Livonian Chronicler Balthasar Russow, whose greatest work described the effects of the Livonian War on the peasantry of what is now Estonia. Like Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell, Russow is a diamond in the rough, a thoroughly modern man in an Early Modern world, rising from humble origins to greatness through wit and learning alone. As Livonia is used as a political football by the warring powers of Russia, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania, he continues to climb the greasy pole of power and influence. Even as a boy, Russow has the happy knack of being in the right place and saying the right thing at the right time. He is equally at home acting as friend and confidante to his ambitious patron and as champion for his humble rural relatives. Can anything halt his vertiginous rise? Like most young men he is prey to temptations of the flesh . . .</div>

The Ropewalker: Between Three Plagues Volume I

Treading Air

Literary

The Harvill Press

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Books by Kross, Jaan

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kross, Jaan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Professor Martens' Departure

CZAR'S MADMAN

A People without a Past: Between Three Plagues Volume 2 (Between Three Plagues 2)

Book Of Falsehoods

Professor Martens' Departure

Professor Martens' Departure

The Czar's Madman

A People without a Past: Between Three Plagues Volume 2 (Between Three Plagues, 2)

The Ropewalker: Between Three Plagues Volume I

Treading Air