One Year Anniversary of "Klara's Journey,"

This summer is the 1-year anniversary of the publication of “Klara’s Journey,” (Marion Street Press). Little did I know that this historical novel of the Russian Civil War would be very relevant to the current Russia-Ukrainian crisis and the new Cold War. Check out “Klara’s Journey,” a story of “betrayal, high drama and love.”  http://amzn.to/13Sp769 Ebk formats. Follow me on twitter @bengfrank .

Refugees flee Donetsk and Luhansk.

As the fighting in eastern Ukraine intensifies between government forces and pro-Russian rebels, around the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, the UN says that in the past week alone 6,200 people have fled their homes. This Civil War brings a refugee crisis as it did when Klara Rasputnis fled Ukraine a hundred years ago. For background, check out “Klara’s Journey,” an historical novel, http://amzn.to/13Sp769 Ebk formats, follow me on twitter @bengfrank

 

The U.S. administration faces “some of the most challenging times in the relations between the U.S. and Russia since the end of the Cold War,” said the new U.S. ambassador to Russia, John F. Tefft. For background, check out my three books on Russia-Ukraine and its Jewish communities: “Klara’s Journey,” (Marion Street Press) an historical novel,  http://amzn.to/13Sp769; “The Scattered Tribe: Traveling the Diaspora from Cuba to India to Tahiti & Beyond,” ( Globe Pequot Press) http://amzn.to/J3Z47T and “A Travel Guide to Jewish Russia and Ukraine, (Pelican Publishing).

 

What next in Ukraine-Russia crisis after new sanctions leveled by U.S. and EU, especially since the West has targeted Russian banks. Well, Russia could retaliate by nationalizing foreign assets and it again could  turn to  China banks to  jump in and aid Russia. The two recently signed a major energy deal. For background, check out my three books on Russia-Ukraine and its Jewish communities: “Klara’s Journey,” (Marion Street Press) an historical novel,  http://amzn.to/13Sp769; “The Scattered Tribe, ( Globe Pequot Press) http://amzn.to/J3Z47T and “A Travel Guide to Jewish Russia and Ukraine, (Pelican Publishing).

Cuba and 7/26

Today,  July 26, marks the 61^st anniversary of the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. On July 26, 1953,  a failed attack by Cuban revolutionaries  on the Moncada Barracks, an army facility in the city of Santiago de Cuba took place. Those rebels were  reorganized in Mexico in 1955 by a group of 82 exiled revolutionaries (including Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, Huber Matos and Juan Almeida Bosque. Fidel Castro took over Cuba on Jan. 1, 1959. The Communist Party, now headed by Castro's brother Raúl, continues to govern Cuba today. Check out my chapter on Cuba and its Jewish community,  in “The Scattered Tribe, Traveling the Diaspora from Cuba to India to Tahiti & Beyond,” (Globe Pequot Press). Wherever books are sold, http://amzn.to/J3Z47T  Ebook formats. Follow me on twitter @bengfrank .

 

Little Did I know when I began my travels to Russia.....

After the fall of Communism in 1991 and up till the recent past, I made a half-dozen trips to Russia & Ukraine. I traveled from St. Petersburg to Moscow, to Suzdal to Kiev, to Odessa, and via the Trans-Siberian to Irkutsk and across Siberia to Vladivostok, I did interviews,  researched material and wrote about the former Soviet Union and present day Russia. Little did I know that what I wrote about in my 3 books on Russia would be background and newsworthy today: “Klara’s Journey,” Marion Street Press) http://amzn.to/13Sp769, as “The Scattered Tribe,” (Globe Pequot Press), http://amzn.to/J3Z47T  and “A Travel Guide to Jewish Russia and Ukraine,” (Pelican Publishing).

 

So sad, Malaysian airliner shot down.

Now after the Russians grab the Crimea and is poised to cross the border again, after a civil war in Ukraine, after  U.S. and EU sanctions are leveled at Moscow, after the most serious standoff between Russia and the U.S. since the Cold War, we have the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner. So sad. Meanwhile more than 1,000 civilians and combatants have been killed since mid-April in Ukraine while tens of thousands of people have fled to Russia, the West and Israel. This a story that won’t go away, and its origins also lie in the Russian Civil War of 100 years ago, the actual beginning of the Cold War. Background  “Klara’s Journey,” (Marion Street Press).