Why a Booktrail?
This book travels between three – if not four – periods of time, beginning in the 1700s and finishing via the mid 1900s and early 2001 in 2009. The story of the Cossack Gold is a fascinating one.
Bequest
What you need to know before your trail
The story of the mysterious Cossack gold.A will is made out in the 1700s leaving 30 barrels of gold now believed to be held in the Bank of England, to a list of people provided several conditions are met.
However the Russians are desperate to prevent Ukraine receiving what in today’s figures would be an astronomical amount of money and so the race to get their hands on it soon becomes deadly.
An unknown aspect of Eastern European history comes alive in what is quite an intriguing story.
Travel Guide
Cambridge
The book opens in Cambridge, England and many places are mentioned which help set the scene for what is to follow. Chesterton Road is where Taras has a small hotel room when carrying out his investigations. Midsummer Common is where the students party and Jesus Green is a name Taras remembers as being important in his search
Moscow
Special mention has to made of the Moscow metro system which may not seem important but which to Tara is evocative of smell and memory and she is keen to mention them and what each of them mean to her. She talks of the grey marble of Mayakovskaya station, the patriotic red granite of Paveletskaya and the uplifting frescoes at Kievskaya.
Ukraine
Lavra – the Monastery – where Taras meets Karpov and where the women wear headscarves – 21 Lavrska (former Mazepy) Str., Kiev
The monastery, with its white and gold-leafed towers and secret underground – cut outs in the rock are where the monks used to sleep. There is a long tour and a short tour depending on how claustrophobic you are but buy a candle and do the complete tour for a tour to remember!
Where Next?
