Rescuing the Czar

Smythe, James P.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 340K words
Chapters: 35

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Rescuing the Czar by James P. SmytheAuthor: Smythe, James P.,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jul 22, 2004

Editor's review

Rescuing the Czar is an English narrative work about the rescue of the tsar, classified under American and Canadian literature and drawn from the Project Gutenberg public-domain library. From the available information it is closer to popular narrative on a historical theme than to rigorous historiography; the pleasure of reading lies in the unfolding of events and the imagining of a rescue rather than in archival verification. For Chinese readers its value is twofold: as a public-domain English text, it shows how the English-speaking world in the early twentieth century told the story of the Russian imperial family's fate; and as light reading, it offers a way to observe the methods and limits of popular historical narrative. It is best treated as a documentary and story-driven work, not as a factual basis for the fate of the tsar's family. Suitable for readers interested in the last Russian imperial family who are also willing to read an English original.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the last Russian tsar and the fate of the imperial family
Readers looking for public-domain English popular historical narrative to practice reading
Literary readers studying how the English-speaking world narrated the Russian Revolution
Readers who enjoy rescue themes and strongly story-driven texts

Not a good fit for

Researchers requiring rigorous historical verification and archival evidence
Readers expecting a Chinese translation or an accessible-reading edition
Readers wholly unfamiliar with Russian history who are unwilling to verify background

Reading tips

Learn the basic facts of Nicholas II and his family's fate before reading, to distinguish narrative from history.
Treat it as popular narrative rather than historical source, and consult authoritative histories for specific people and events.
Compare it with other public-domain English texts on the tsar to observe narrative conventions in similar works.
When reading in English, read through the plot first, then return to key chapters to sort out character relationships.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a serious historical study?

From the available information it is a public-domain narrative work in the literature category, closer to popular story than to rigorous historiography. The rescue plot involving the tsar should be read as narrative; specific facts need to be checked in authoritative historical works.

Is there historical evidence for the rescue plot?

The available information provides no explanation, so it cannot be confirmed. It is advisable not to treat it as factual basis; read the rescue plot as popular narrative imagination and compare it with accepted facts of the Russian Revolution.

Is this book suitable for English beginners?

The original is an English public-domain text published relatively early, and its expression is distant from today's English. Beginners may first read popular Chinese works on Russian history, then attempt the original once they have a certain vocabulary, or read it in sections with a dictionary.

Comments

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About the author

Smythe, James P. Author

James P. Smythe is an author about whom relatively little public information is currently available; his dates of birth and death, nationality, and full career remain unrecorded in the existing materials. Only one work by him is held in the collection, namely Rescuing the Czar. Judging from the title and subject matter, the book deals with the imperial family and related historical events, combining historical narrative with an element of suspense, and may involve court upheavals and rescue operations around the time of the Russian Revolution. Owing to the lack of further biographical information, we cannot confirm the full scope of his writing career, yet this single surviving work is enough to show the author's interest in historical subjects and his narrative inclinations. Readers seeking a deeper understanding of the man must wait for more public historical materials to come to light.