Search all library resources

White terror : Cossack warlords of the Trans-Siberian

This is the gripping story of a forgotten Russia in turmoil, when the line between government and organized crime blurred into a chaotic continuum of kleptocracy, vengeance and sadism. It tells the tale of how, in the last days of 1917, a fugitive Cossack captain brashly led seven cohorts into a mutinous garrison at Manchuli, a squalid bordertown on Russia's frontier with Manchuria. The garrison had gone Red, revolted against its officers, and become a dangerous, ill-disciplined mob. Nevertheless, Cossack Captain Grigori Semionov cleverly harangued the garrison into laying dow.This is the gripping story of a forgotten Russia in turmoil, when the line between government and organized crime blurred into a chaotic continuum of kleptocracy, vengeance and sadism. It tells the tale of how, in the last days of 1917, a fugitive Cossack captain brashly led seven cohorts into a mutinous garrison at Manchuli, a squalid bordertown on Russia's frontier with Manchuria. The garrison had gone Red, revolted against its officers, and become a dangerous, ill-disciplined mob. Nevertheless, Cossack Captain Grigori Semionov cleverly harangued the garrison into laying down its arms and boarding a train that carried it back into the Bolsheviks' tenuous territory. Through such bold action, Semionov and a handful of young Cossack brethren established themselves as the warlords of Eastern Siberia and Russia's Pacific maritime provinces during the next bloody year. Like inland pirates, they menaced the Trans-Siberian Railroad with fleets of armoured trains, Cossack cavalry, mercenaries and pressgang cannon fodder. They undermined Admiral Kolchak's White armies, ruthlessly liquidated all Reds, terrorized the population, sold out to the Japanese, and antagonized the American Expeditionary Force and Czech Legion in a frenzied orchestration of the Russian Empire's gotterdammerung. Historians have long recognized that Ataman Semionov and Company were a nasty lot. This book details precisely how nasty they were.

Online EBSCO Academic Comprehensive Collection

White terror : Cossack warlords of the Trans-Siberian

This is the gripping story of a forgotten Russia in turmoil, when the line between government and organized crime blurred into a chaotic continuum of kleptocracy, vengeance and sadism. It tells the tale of how, in the last days of 1917, a fugitive Cossack captain brashly led seven cohorts into a mutinous garrison at Manchuli, a squalid bordertown on Russia's frontier with Manchuria. The garrison had gone Red, revolted against its officers, and become a dangerous, ill-disciplined mob. Nevertheless, Cossack Captain Grigori Semionov cleverly harangued the garrison into laying down its arms and boarding a train that carried it back into the Bolsheviks' tenuous territory. Through such bold action, Semionov and a handful of young Cossack brethren established themselves as the warlords of Eastern Siberia and Russia's Pacific maritime provinces during the next bloody year. Like inland pirates, they menaced the Trans-Siberian Railroad with fleets of armoured trains, Cossack cavalry, mercenaries and pressgang cannon fodder. They undermined Admiral Kolchak's White armies, ruthlessly liquidated all Reds, terrorized the population, sold out to the Japanese, and antagonized the American Expeditionary Force and Czech Legion in a frenzied orchestration of the Russian Empire's gotterdammerung. Historians have long recognized that Ataman Semionov and Company were a nasty lot. This book details precisely how nasty they were.

The intelligence war in Latin America, 1914-1922

"Drawing on long-classified U.S. intelligence documents, this narrative of the Latin American intelligence war reveals the complexity and chaos behind the placid veneer of wartime Pan-America. The author connects Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Guatemala City, Lima, Havana, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, London, Washington, Tokyo and dozens of safe houses, front companies, consulates, legations and headquarters"--The First World War did not bypass Latin America, but immediately cast its shadow over every port from Tijuana to Punta Arenas, and every capitol from Havana to Buenos Aires. Within days, Europe's call to arms echoed across every Latin American jungle, mountain range and desert, beckoning reservists home and mobilizing expatriate communities. From the first day of war, European belligerents dedicated intelligence assets and secret diplomacy to compete for Latin America's prize allegiances and resources. The intelligence war in Latin America pitted not only the Entente against the Central Powers, but quickly entangled all of the American republics and even Japan. Revolutionary and counter-revolutionary movements, big oil, international banks and businesses were also drawn into the fray. These books add depth to known historical episodes and disclose fresh revelations from intelligence files that were not declassified until our generation. The focus ranges from the desk of Woodrow Wilson to the boiler room of a tramp steamer in Buenos Aires, linking policies and executive decisions to incidents of sabotage, espionage, political subterfuge and other nefarious arts. This narrative connects the dots between Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Guatemala City, Lima, Havana, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, London, Washington, Tokyo and dozens of safe houses, front companies, consulates, legations and headquarters in between.