Highly recommended for anyone who wishes to understand Yugoslavia's history and the British involvement in the cause of the events.

This historic account of atrocities against the Domobranci (soldiers) and also Slovene women and children must never be forgotten. Each day new evidence is revealed that this book is a book of fact.

This book gives an oft-never heard account particularly of the Slovenes, Croats in addition to the Cossacks,of their forced repatriation during the postwar 1945 period from the former Tito-led Yugoslavia. This book portrays the betrayl of Slovene Domobranci, Croatians, and many civilians by the British and American allies who forced thousands to their deaths by Tito's partisans. At last the ex-patriat Slovenes' story is told at some length, that although the Domobranci who were reluctantly aligned with the Nazis and were not the enemy of the allies,(whom they assisted at every opportunity), but it was solely for their survival to fight the real enemy , the barbaric communist partisans(Stalinist collaborators for that matter).

This is in contrast to the history written by the victors whose label of Nazi collaborators is an easy, convenient method to discredit them.

You can't help but respect a book with a bibliography that's fully one-fifth of its size. Tolstoy's knowledge of Celtic lore is impressive in its depth and expansive in its scope. He draws from a deep well of myth, legend and written history to create an argument that requires no small amount of concentration to appreciate fully but is even more satisfying because of it. It was an amazing learning experience that I would recommend to any serious Celtic aficionado.

this is one of the better books I've read in a long time. Tolstoy's accounts of the treatment of the Cosssacks and other forced repatriates rings of the history that was Stalin's Russia. A definate must read for anyone interested in WWII or the era of Josef Stalin. It should be in reprint for the quality is that good.

Victims of Yalta (also called The Secret Betrayal) is not light reading. It is long, scholarly, detailed. I just wanted to get that out upfront. If you like any of the following, this is a good book for you: * political intrigue * World War II * Cold War * Russian History * military history

What Tolstoy (distant relative of the famous late Count) does is tell the whole story of the fascinating, and sorrowful, situation that the Soviet peoples found themselves, 1941-45. Caught between the brutal racist nazis (Hitler), and their own paranoid communist regime (Stalin), these people are faced repeatedly with life or death choices.

While the majority of the book deals with the military men, note that many hundreds of thousands of civilians were also effected. The German army took during the course of WW2, about 5.7 MILLION soviet prisoners. Of those, something on order of 3 MILLION died. Initially, if the prisoners weren't shot out of hand (political commissars and jews), they were often herded into makeshift prisons and left to their own devices. Sometimes these were literally barbed wire enclosures of open steppe. The POWs died by the tens of thousands in the first year.

But the Germans, having suffered 750,000 casualties in the first 5 months of the war with USSR, were in desperate need of manpower. One source was the willing Soviet volunteers. At first, Hitler flat forbade any Soviet from carrying arms, but "hiwis" (helpers) in German units were ignored. Tens of thousands drove trucks, polished boots, cooked meals, etc. Often, when faced with the horrible conditions in German POW camps, these men would accept the words of the German officers come to seek recruits. Some joined simply out of self-preservation, others to fight communism. Though organized formations were forbidden, over time, as the war continued chewing up German manhood, units were organized. At first, this was only of the minorities - esp. the Baltics (Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians). The USSR was made up of over 150 ethnic groups, so many of the prisoners taken were of non-Russian heritage, even non-Slavic background. Soon, Georgian, Armenian, Azeri, "Cossack", Turkic, Tatar/Tartar and other Legions were formed. Most served in rear areas, fighting partisans and doing support functions.

As the German army began to lose, and fell back from the gates of Moscow and Stalingrad, then Kursk and Kharkov, Hitler ordered the units moved west. He never trusted them, and feared a mass desertion or their rebellion. Those units were thus moved to Netherlands, France, Italy, Yugoslavia, etc. Generally, they were security troops, fighting partisans, or acting in garrison capacity. Many were on the Atlantic Wall - awaiting the West's invasion. But they had no grudge with the Americans, British, and Canadians. They wanted (generally) to fight communism - Stalin - but they didn't want to fight _for_ Germany. Their morale plummeted - but what could they do?

The most interesting stories to me are of the British attempts to get Soviet Govt to acknowledge the existence of large numbers of Soviets in German uniform - and thus get a Soviet answer as to what they should do with these men.

Another interesting - and horrible - story surrounds the Cossacks, and their forcible return to the Soviets by the British in Austria, right after the end of the war. These men moved their whole families with them, and formed into units in the German army, finally ending up as the 15th SS Cavalry Corps, fighting Bulgarians, Yugoslavs, and the Red Army, in Yugoslavia. Suicide was one alternative for these men.

Like I said, not a light read, but a very interesting story - Tolstoy covers all aspects - from the high leaders (like Churchill and Eden in Britain), to the bureaucrats and military leaders charged with carrying out the tasks assigned, regardless of personal views, and of course to the Soviet citizens themselves.

The Gaelic in the book does make for heavy going, so I do reccommend taking some time to go through the glossary at the back so you understand the pronounciation. This book is full of myth and is beautifully written - a real masterpiece.

Tolstoy weaves a rich tapestry of ancient English mythology which provides both the spiritual and sociopolitical context for the rise of the young Merlin's power and influence, and Arthur's eventual emergence as the saviour of the Britons. Unfortunately, there has been no 'Second Book', so the reader at the end is left somewhat marooned, especially given the effort required to immerse oneself in such a well-researched and painstakingly rendered interpretation of this classic of English folklore.

Nikolai Tolstoy (Great-grandson of Leo Tolstoy) penned a magnificent work of fanciful art in the magical world of pre-Arthurian Merlin.

As historically accurate as the retelling of history will allow, "Coming of the King" weaves the intricate paths of Merlin and the Kings he associated through many escapades and battles. Beginning with Merlin's birth, this traditional, legendary Welsh fable replaces 'fairy-tale' form with mind-blowing resonance. As tales of peoples and battles and 'lands of yore' where sung by bards in the mediaeval times of western Europe, Tolstoy fully immerses the reader in a world so seemingly real, we begin to interpret his fiction with known facts within our current surroundings. Coming of the King has all the obligatory 'treks through the country-sides,' 'mountain mayhem,' and 'cast of thousands battles' as well as a compelling reality in how humanity in a whole conducts its political regimes. As this work begins before Merlin met up with Arthur, it also tells of the creation of Excalibur, and conceives as to the true purpose of its original creation. Merlin, himself, is shown as a man with his own worries and concerns of what 'is,' what 'will be,' and how he wants things 'to be.' The whole tone of this work is mysterious and dark (as mediaeval as mediaeval can get), and still conjure landscapes and castles so real we can reach out and touch them. The only thing this work lacks, is its characterization. Gone are the 'damsels in distress,' the 'gnomish sidekicks,' and the black and white 'good Vs evil' most fantasy works base their entire ensemble upon. Coming of the King deals only with Merlin and those he comes immediately in contact with. I highly recommend reading this book if you are a die-hard fantasy fan with a penchant for the dark 'reality' of times long gone.

-RasGold@aol.com

As the other two reviewers noted, the book is difficult to get through. I made it past page 65, but I had to push myself. I actually purchased the book over 10 years ago, tried to read it, and became bored. I picked it up again recently, wanting to give it a second chance. I just couldn't stay with it. I am pretty well versed in Arthurian myth, Welsh mythology, etc., and the obscure references to gods, people, and places left me totally confused.

I checked out the reviews here to see if others were having the same experience.

I think this book looks good on a shelf, but not to read.

...but the reason for the book's dullness is interesting. The entire story (I did read the whole book, but cannot for the life of me remeber why...) is told as a history, as if the action is not happening as the reader reads, but has already happened long ago, and the narrator is simply relating ancient events.

This device lends a bit of interest at the beginning of the book, but it gets terribly dull by about the twelfth page of the book, and the author never shifts the narrative to the present, but continually reminds the reader (through verb conjugation and other devices) that this stuff has already happened.

"The Lord of the Rings", on the other hand, is told as if the action is taking place as the reader reads, and this helps to hold the readers' attention, keeping them interested in what is going to happen 'next'.

In Tolstoy's book (and a case could be made that an Authurian book should be more engrossing than a modern tale) however, there is no 'what happens next', since the whole thing was over long ago--and Tolstoy never lets his readers forget it, and thus one never really 'gets into' the story.

Tolkein suffered from this device in 'The Silmarillion', and Tolstoy should have learned from that epic history that this device makes drama and mystery nearly impossible.

And both drama and mystery are required of any writer wishing to hang onto his audience's attention much past page 65.

Keith Russell

While this book is a hard read, I loved it, and appreciated its authentic feel. It is of a much higher quality that much other modern Arthurian trashy fantasy novels. And, in my opinion, should not be compared to them. If you want an easy, simple story to read featuring Merlin, etc, there's lots more to choose from. If you want something with an edge, is more real, and substance, then get this book.