Читать книгу The Cossack Cowboy - Lester S. Taube - Страница 8

Preface

Writing a period novel calls for many hours of fact-finding. Sometimes this research is more time consuming than penning the first draft. The Cossack Cowboy is one of these types of books, in so far as it required an unusually detailed study of the dress, customs, and historical background of that period. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 brought changes of uniform and weapons to the Cossack fighting man and his frontier adversaries; Queen Victoria was leading the British Empire to its glorious heights; the Lincoln County War in the Territory of New Mexico was blazing a new chapter in the history of the U.S. West.

There is a very long list of people whom I must thank for assisting me to gather information for this novel. Two of them spent considerable time merely to determine the length of the 1880 Cossack lance. In spite of all this effort, I must admit to having taken certain liberties in rounding off its true length, of placing Don Cossack patrols in Kuban Cossack country, in the spelling of tribal names, etc., all of which might give instant apoplexy to the true historian, but on the whole, the characters and incidents could very well have been real.

So, a barrel of thanks to all of you, and special mention to:

Former Cossack Captain Nicholas Korolkoff, one of the last of his breed, who gave so freely of his time and memories, and whose back is just as straight as it was during his final fight over half a century ago.

Colonel William Tallon, who opened the doors to the United States Army War College Library, and who would have made a helluva Cossack had he learned to ride as well as his former artillery scout partner - me.

Lieutenant Colonel John Sloan, who took time from his studies with the Russian Institute to plough through German, Austrian, and his own archives, and who wrote, drew and delivered such a volume of valuable information that I was rich indeed.

My dear and huge-hearted friend, Gwyn Simpson, of Folkestone, Kent, editor, principal researcher, and unshakable guardian of truth, who stood for no foolishness with dangling participles, British butlers who didn’t wear white gloves, and describing piñon trees where firs should grow.

Last, but certainly not least, my wife, Ulla, who is all things, but primarily the final authority of the written word.

Lester S. Taube, Austria