The Deluge: An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Vol. 2

A restless winter drapes the war‑torn landscape of Poland, where Swedish cannons pound the earth and negotiations swirl like smoke over fortified monasteries. General Miller, pressing his commanders to seize key towns, finds his orders tangled in the clever diplomacy of Prior Kordetski, who invokes royal safeguard and sacred ground to stall the advance. As the night truce settles, soldiers repair trenches while the monks, unfazed, chant prayers and offer a modest festival, hinting at a deeper struggle between faith and fire.

Amid the clatter of artillery, colorful personalities emerge: the steadfast Colonel Kuklinovski, the haughty Prince of Hesse, and the pragmatic engineer De Fossis, each vying for honor, profit, or simply survival. Their terse letters and sharp banter reveal a world where military might meets monastic wiles, and every command may mask a subtle reversal. Listeners are drawn into a vivid tableau of strategy, belief, and the uneasy calm that precedes the next surge of battle.