IN THE STORM

<p>DECEMBER 2016. A young English woman crosses a North Sea patrolled by German submarines on the first stage of her lengthy journey to the Southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don where she is engaged as a tutor to the teenage daughter of a prosperous industrialist. Within three months the Russian Revolution explodes, and she is caught up in chaotic and bloody months of violence.</p><p></p><p>Rhoda Power's remarkable record describes with an extraordinary cool eye - and often humorous ear - her growing sense of insecurity and powerlessness as the conventions and divisions of the social order are swept aside in a tumultuous outpouring of repressed resentment, prejudice, vengeful lawlessness, terror and murder. The shell fire and machine-gun bullets of the Battle of Rostov become the soundtrack of her daily life. Death is all around. And the Germans are advancing.</p><p></p><p>Originally published in 1919 as <em>Under Cossack and Bolshevik</em> Rhoda Power's account of an ordered existence degenerating into battles raging in the streets around her and of her perilous escape is a neglected classic of outstanding "on the ground " reporting of events at a time when morality and justice no longer exist. Her words bring home the courage of a remarkable woman; although written over 100 years ago, they have a remarkable contemporary resonance and relevance in today's turbulent world of conflict.</p>