37

Edward the Exile

By Clay Lane

Two young English princes were banished to the court of Yaroslav the Wise, and one returned to claim the crown.

38

The Conversion of Vladimir the Great

By Clay Lane

A succession of religious leaders came to Kiev, hoping to win the wild barbarian Prince to their cause.

39

Germany’s Secret Weapon

By Winston Spencer Churchill

As a last, desperate throw of the dice in the Great War, the Germans detonated an unusual kind of weapon in St Petersburg.

40

The Sneeze of History

By Leo Tolstoy

It was the opinion of Leo Tolstoy that even Napoleon was never master of his own destiny.

41

Russia’s First Railway

By Clay Lane

Sixteen-year-old John Wesley Hackworth brought a locomotive over to St Petersburg, and Russia’s railway revolution was ready for the off.

42

The Blessings of Nicholas Mogilevsky

By Clay Lane

Passengers sharing Bishop Nicholas’s Moscow-bound flight found his blessings faintly silly — but that was when the engines were still running.