Bibliograph

The ropewalker, Jaan Kross ; translated from the Estonian by Merike Lepasaar Beecher

Type

Label

The ropewalker, Jaan Kross ; translated from the Estonian by Merike Lepasaar Beecher

Language

eng

Illustrations

maps

Index

no index present

Literary Form

novels

Main title

The ropewalker

Responsibility statement

Jaan Kross ; translated from the Estonian by Merike Lepasaar Beecher

Series statement

Between three plagues, 1

Summary

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

Target audience

adult

resource.variantTitle

Rope walker

Contributor