This novel is mainly set in Kiev and is about the dismay of Russian commanders as they see the Soviet Union disintegrating around them. They resolve to do something about it. In reality, one of them, Vladimir Putin, actually did. Kiev, Ukraine, January 1998: Colonel General Igor Pavlovich Yavlinsky was not a happy man. As he gazed out of the seventh floor window of his office on Krechatik, the main street of Kiev, he pondered on what might have been; what should have been. H

I have written many articles about Russia over the years and, more recently, in the context of the war they have waged on Ukraine. One of the recent articles was read by a lady from Ukraine who complimented me on it. I was delighted to get the positive feedback but it reminded me that before I ever lived in Russia, I had spent two and a half great years working in Ukraine, in Kyiv. This was in the late 1990’s, relatively soon after independence from the old Soviet Union. The

After two weeks on Medium, I think it’s time for some Truth and Plain Speaking: I had a job one time which involved a lot of writing; preparation of briefs; making cases for projects; updating boards of directors and similar. I had a boss at that time who encouraged me to use plain words. It wasn’t his own invention, in fact the original book ‘plain words’ had been written by Sir Ernest Gowers in 1954, apparently in an effort to encourage parts of the British Civil Service to