Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

Supporting your high street Find out how »
Diplomacy and Murder in Tehran : Alexander Griboyedov and Imperial Russia's Mission to the Shah of Persia, PDF eBook

Diplomacy and Murder in Tehran : Alexander Griboyedov and Imperial Russia's Mission to the Shah of Persia PDF

PDF

Download - Immediately Available
Please note: eBooks can only be purchased with a UK issued credit card and all our eBooks (ePub and PDF) are DRM protected.

Description

In this first biography of Griboyedov in English, Laurence Kelly paints a vivid picture of his remarkable literary and diplomatic gifts which were nevertheless overshadowed by ill-fortune and tragedy.

When the Tehran mob broke into the Russian embassy and murdered all the diplomats there, the death toll included one of the most brilliant and promising stars in the early 19th century Russian literary firmament.

Alexander Griboyedov's masterpiece Woe from Wit had been praised by Pushkin as making 'an indelible impression'. It also had the distinction of being immediately banned by the Russian censors. The play's alternative title was The Misfortune of Being Clever and perhaps Griboyedov's tragedy was that he was not clever enough to withstand the malign forces which shadowed and dogged his career.

As a writer he narrowly escaped the ferocity of the Tsar's government on suspicion of complicity in the 1825 Decembrist plot by liberal aristocrats to overthrow the Tsarist state. After his brush with the wrath of the Tsar, Griboyedov was dispatched to Georgia and Iran, charged with furthering Russia's expansionist agenda in the Caucasus and beyond. As one of the earliest Russian players in the Great Game, he was a leading actor in defining the Tsar's relations with the Persians and the British in the region.

But Griboyedov viewed his mission to Tehran as Russian Minister Plenipotentiary with the greatest foreboding. In the end his diplomatic skills were no match for the zealous mobs unleashed by the mullahs incensed by trivial incidents which they portrayed as a slur on Iran's self-esteem and the honour of Islam.

This book makes an invaluable contribution to the diplomatic history of Russia, the Caucasus and Iran, while at the same time shedding much new light on the life and works of a writer who was among 19th century Russia's most respected and prominent literary figures.

Information

Save 20%

£10.39

£8.31

Download - Immediately Available
Add to Basket
Sign in to add to wishlist
 
Delivered to your inbox

to transfer to your device

eBook Help

Is this the right eBook for
my device? How do I download
this eBook? See help and FAQs pages

Information