BLANCH, Lesley. The Sabres of Paradise. London, John Murray, [1960].
8vo. Original cloth with illustrated dust-wrappers (not price-clipped); pp. xii, 495; plates after photographs; light marginal wear to wrappers, otherwise very good.
First edition. 'During the Great Caucasus War of 1834-1859, the warring mountain tribes of Daghestan and Chechnya united under the charismatic leadership of the Muslim chieftain Imam Shamyl, the 'Lion of Daghestan'. For twenty-five years this disparate band of guerrillas held at bay the mighty armies of invading Russia - strengthened only by the desire for an independent Caucasus and their religious faith. Their ferocious battles have inspired generations of fighters and their memory continues to haunt the Russian psyche. Lesley Blanch vividly recounts the epic story of their heroic and bloody struggle and the life of a man still legendary in the Caucasus' (advertisement for a modern edition). - Lesley Blanch is a cult author with enough information on and adoration of her in the media.
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