Customer Reviews

The Tarasov Saga: From Russia Through China to Australia

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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The Tarasov Saga is a very absorbing book, not only because of its account of a remarkable journey over 25 years of the extended Tarasov family, initially fleeing from Russia through China and the Phillipines to Australia, but also for the historical perspective of life in Russia and China in the first half of the 20th century.
I have known the author, both as a work colleague and a friend for over 30 years but, Gary being a very private person, all I knew of his background was that he was of White Russian origin and had lived in China before coming to Australia! The to read this book and discover the astonishing story of all that happened from the time of the Russian Revolution and its effects on the Tarasovs, individually and collectively, until the first of them arrived in Australia in 1949, made for compelling reading.I am not qualified to comment on Gary's literary style or technique, but the way he has portrayed each member of the family, their strengths and their weaknesses brought them to life so that, not only were they believable, but one could visualise their individual contributions to this saga.
This book is about courage, determination and resilience, and what can be achieved by people who are single-minded and motivated to seek a better life after many years of deprivation
and hardship.
In particular, the reader is left in no doubt of the author's great affection and admiration for his Grandmother Aida and her monumental efforts to ensure that the family survived their epic journey and, bar one member, all be reunited in Australia.
I thoroughly commend this book which is not only an enjoyable read but in an age where the refugee problem is a world-wide one, provides an understanding of the hardships and traumas that constantly confront refugees on the move.
It is an intensely human story which reinforces basic values and beliefs, in an era where many consider these things to be unimportant.
It would be nice to think that an enterprising producer might think that there is enough meat and drama in The Tarasov Saga to provide the basis for a film or TV series. It certainly has all the ingredients.

This book details the adventures of a large family as they seek safe haven from communism. In the beginning of the book, the author's mother and father are living in Czarist Russia, where his father is an officer in the army just prior to the outbreak of World War I. The small family grows to five children during the war. As the revolution begins to take hold, the father joins the loyalist White Russians and is dragged further and further east with them. His mother is left to manage alone with the five children. As it became clear that, as White Russians, they were not welcome in the Soviet Union, the mother decides to make her way east with the children, although she had no money and only a vague idea of where her husband might be. After a series of misadventures in which she is forced to leave the children behind, she eventually finds her husband and gets all five children back with her in a city in China that had a large Russian refugee population. The entire family made its home in China for the next twenty years, until a second communist revolution made them refugees once again.

The story is quite well written, with amazing recall of details from long ago adventures. The stories describing everyday life in the Russian refugee communities of pre-Communist China provide a fascinating glimpse into a very little known way of life. On the one hand, it is amazing that the entire large family was able to make it out of Russia and then out of China, but on the other hand, it was precisely because they had so many people working together in the family that made it possible.

This book moved me to tears.

This accurate and highly emotional piece of writing took me right back to my own family's history which is not unlike the Tarasovs. The plight of thousands of Russians including that of my parents began with their fleeing Russia, starting new lives in China only to be uprooted again and forced to find a new home in another part of the world.

In addition to the eloquent writing, the beautiful collection of photographs in this book brought back memories of the places I grew up in and remembered as a young girl. I am very grateful to the Author for such a beautifully written book which will help the world become aware of our true story at last. I highly recommend this book about this tragic and wonderful family and particularly to anyone whose own personal history lies in that part of the globe.

I think it's a book that had to be written. Never mind the migration of Jews to Palestine - my parents had nowhere to go except China.
Mum and Dad left Vladivostok with just the clothes they were wearing, hoping against hope that the White Army would repel the Reds and they could make their way back.
They had to leave because Dad was a target - he was an Ex Officer in the Imperial Navy. Multiply this story by 10,000 and it might give you an idea of the magnitude of this exodus.
I was born 15 years later in Harbin and we moved to Shanghai when I was four, however as in every chapter of this book (through Japs bombing Chinese Shanghai, Yanks bombing Japanese Shanghai, Chinese Army rebellions, total disregard for life and limb by the Chinese population etc) there was always and undercurrent of wonderful Russian humour and approach to life. I find this the most appealing side of the whole tragic story.

Both my wife and I read and loved this book. I am a slow reader but read this one as fast as any I can remember. Nash has a clever technique which propels you forward with him and you are tantalisingly drawn to discover what is going to happen next.

The characters are vividly drawn and are either warm or truthfully flawed. When you consider Nash is speaking of family members, he is refreshingly honest.

The book is rich in detail and the copious photographs really add to the sense of identity with the characters.

My knowledge of history in that part of the world in the period was not strong. While my wife's knowledge was better, we both learned a lot about a time when many people showed great courage just to survive, let alone search for a better life in the unknown.

I particularly learned many interesting facts about life in the concessions of China. It was also fascinating to hear about the half-way community on a Philippines Island awaiting news of their fate. Which country would eventually accept them?

We would recommend this book to anyone as a great easy-going read with a real message and lots to learn.

This book is excellent. It is almost like a novel that has you glued to it experiencing the trial and tribulations of an amazing woman and her family. Not only did I find it fascinating it was also a fun refresh of the history of that time and also of that part of the world. I sent a note to the author and recommended that he contract a script writer and pursue making a movie out of this exciting saga.

The Tarasov Saga is a gripping read and an interesting hostory of a time, a country and a family. Read whichever way, it holds the attention throughout.

From the moment I started to read this book I could not help but read it. The story was compelling in part due to the saga of the family itself and in part due to the fact that I had a connection to the author and the story is real.

The major thing that struck me was the committment of the mother in keeping her family together through thick and thin, doing whatever it took to achieve what she perceived to be her life's mission.

The fact is that she was successful and through Gary's telling of this story all of us have an insight into the incredible energy that the feamle of the species has when it is directed to the safety and development of her family.

This was a great read and I highly recommend it to any future purchaser.

Saga is the right word to describe the Tarasov family trek through time and trouble and many countries to ultimate settlement in Australia. Through 2 world wars, the Russian civil war, numerous skirmishes and extreme hardship involving harassment, poverty, harsh living conditions, separation and ultimate unity in a land of plenty.

This story is told with intrigue, pathos , humour, love and accuracy from personal and first hand eye witness experiences.
The characters are all finely drawn, their attributes and faults clearly portrayed. The whole story moves at a fast pace through individual incidents and experiences. The locations of the actions are exotic and out of the way places for most of us and all the more intriguing because of this - places like Siberia, Manchuria, Vladivostok, Harbin, Tientsin, Shanghai, the Phillippines.

There is wit throughout - excitement and expectation too - and I report it as a first class story(real) and an excellent read.
Recommended to all.

The Tarasov Saga is much more than a family history, although the author may well have set out with that outcome in mind. We begin in the days of the Russian Tsars and end in the suburbs of modern Australia.

What lies between is a remarkable story of the courage and unfailing will of a talented matriarch and her family, enduring through a world-shaking revoution and the little understood wars and struggles that enveloped the expatriate Russian community in China during the middle years of the 20th century.

I learned more about the fascinating history of these times, particularly the internal and external struggles of the Chinese with the Russians, Japanese and other foreign occupiers, than I ever imagined I could glean from the experiences of one family.

It's an easy and great read - I finished the book as I travelled through Russia from Moscow to St Petersburg and that added an extra dimension to the experience.