In Stalin's Soviet Union, people were arrested at whim and disappeared, often never to return, to the notorious Gulags of Siberia. Thus, despite his mother's despair, the arrest of Pasha, a young and talented draftsman, and his subsequent deportation, have nothing strange about them. Strange, however, is the Gulag where the boy finds himself, where all the other prisoners are all artists of good calibre; the living conditions, however harsh, are much better than in other similar places and the sentence, if one can call it that, is to reproduce Leonardo's sketches. Slowly, however, Pasha understands the design that led to the creation of that strange Gulag and the Chinese box of betrayals triggered by the greed of the dictator and the entire system.
The novel is very enjoyable and well-written, the historical and character reconstruction is perfect; the final part, however, has a few too many long passages.

I was fascinated by the premise of this book. I was gripped from the very beginning, and was engaged throughout the book. What I enjoyed most was the historical setting and details. The author has clearly done their research and there were several names and places I looked up to provide me with more background information. I'm not normally one to enjoy historical fiction too much, but the artistic elements really drew me to it. I found the end a bit "chopped up", jumping between different perspectives to explain what happened to all the different characters, but it was nice to have closure at the end. There are some horrible things happening throughout, nothing too graphic, but such was reality back then too. Overall an enjoyable read.

Synopsis/blurb.....

Perfect for fans who love the artistry of Daniel Silva and the passion of Greg Iles

Stalin's Russia, 1950. Brilliant young artist Pasha Kalmenov is arrested and sent without trial to a forced-labor camp in the Arctic gulag. This is a camp like no other. Although conditions are harsh and degrading, the prisoners are not to be worked to death in a coal mine or on a construction project. Their task is to forge the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. There is a high price to be paid for failing to reach the required standard of perfection; particularly as the camp commandant has his own secret agenda. When the executions begin, Pasha realizes that only his artistic talent can protect him. But for how long? Worse horrors are to come—if he survives them, will life still be worth living?

The Leonardo Gulag journeys to the sinister heart of Stalin's regime of terror, where paranoia reigns and no one is safe, and in which the whims of one man determine the fate of millions. Ultimately, the novel presents a moving portrait of the indomitability of the human spirit.
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My take....

Lots to like here with a captivating trip to Stalin's Russia in the 50s. A young man and talented artist and the main focus of the book, Pasha gets arrested and transported to Siberia along with a train-load of other artist types. Why? Well its Stalin's Russia - explanations aren't immediately forthcoming.

After a long and difficult journey, they arrive at an isolated camp in the Arctic. They are to recreate the drawings of Da Vinci, part of a top secret project and one with repercussions for the small band of surviving artists and those with knowledge of the project after Stalin's death.

I really got swept up in this one. There's a great sense of time and place with Doherty transporting this reader to the cold harsh landscape of Siberia. Isolation, separation, cold, snow, sub zero temperatures, misery, loss of family, new surroundings, new friendships and alliances, group factions among the artists and distrust, forgery, a cull, another cull, abuse of power and helplessness with female inmates forced to have sex with the camp commandant, wolves, death, the Cold War, Anthony Blunt, treachery, the Queen's pictures, theft, politics, cleaning house, escape and a lot more.

I liked how the author conveyed the times and illustrated the supreme power of the state over the individual ... the insignificance of self, the importance of serving the system, the lack of value attributed to people, the suspicion and distrust of strangers and even neighbours and friends.

This is then contrasted with Pasha's relationships within the camp with his new best friends (names escape me), the love of family, memories of the past, the constant searching by his mother to discover his whereabouts, the help he finds when fleeing the destruction of the camp and his subsequent quest to reach the West.

I enjoyed both the fictional and real historic characters and events that were woven into the book.
I'm not usually a massive fan of historical fiction but more books like this one and I may well be a convert.

4.5 from 5

Read - May, 2020
Published - 2020
Page count - 336
Source - review copy via Edelweiss - Above the Treeline site (and Net Galley)
Format - ePUB read on laptop

https://col2910.blogspot.com/2020/06/kevin-doherty-leonardo-gulag-2020.html

Fascinating story that keeps you involved from the beginning right through until the end. A very believable book that takes you on a journey of intrigue and danger. Definitely recommended.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The Leonardo Gulag by Kevin Doherty is a novel which tells of a young Russian artist, who has been arrested by the Stalin regime and put in a gulag, forced to create art forgeries. Mr. Koherty is an established author from England.

In 1950s Russia, a young artist named Pasha kalmenov has been arrested for unknown reasons, and sent to a gulag in the Arctic. Once there, Pasha discovers that he is part of small group of artists forced to make forgeries of drawings originally created by the famed Leonardo de Vinci.

The artists have no idea why they are doing this work, and for whom. It is soon discovered that the artists whose forgeries are not up to par are being executed, only Pasha’s talent can extend his life.

I have read several books on Leonard de Vinci, and when I read the description it sounded interesting, and a different take. The Leonardo Gulag by Kevin Doherty did not disappoint, even though it was not what I was expecting.

Leonardo himself, or his art, is a subplot do not really play any part in the story except moving it forward, and providing some background for the narrative. That being said, this is not a book about art, but about artist and I knew that going in.

Half the book takes places in a Russian gulag during the reign of Stalin. The author manages to capture the sense of isolation, danger, loneliness, and impending doom the protagonist, Pasha kalmenov, feels during that part of the story.

The latter part of the book takes Pasha and makes him a foreigner in his own home. There are many books, fiction and non-fiction alike, which deal with this subject and it is always sad story. Sometimes the characters come out on top, but mostly those are stories which deal with the inner elements of one’s personality and the ability, or inability, to deal with such stark change.

The author captured the feeling of being a foreigner in a place which you intimately know very well. It is a feeling many of us get after visiting our childhood home town, after many years of absence. Things are the same, but not really. A street might look familiar, but it is strangely changed from how you remember it (could be smaller, wider, different stores).

The author weaves many historical figures and events into the story, all happening in the background. From Anthony Blunt’s spying, to Stalin’s cruel reign, or the gulag’s horrific conditions, one gets the feeling of moving through history through a fictional narrative.

Most of all, this is a story of survival by a least likely candidate. Pasha has lots of help, and lots of luck, but he is determined to make it through.

My thanks to Ocean view publishing, Mr. Doherty and Netgalley.
Location, location, location!
I loved not only the location, but the timeline that swept back and forth!
I'm in agreement with everyone that not only this period of time would suck, but also the before and after.
Yet, as is often true, no matter where we are and our circumstances...so long as we aren't in a single cell, then we will find compadres.
This is a book that took me months to read. Heck, I was never even certain that I'd finish it! But, I kept reading. One day it was 30 pages. Next 2 weeks it was 2 pages a day. I have a bad habit of requesting books like these that I can't review on the time required. Normally I'll leave a note to the publisher's saying "so sorry, Charlie!" Or along those lines! This is one I kept reading though.

This gripping, unusual historical novel combines the weird world of art forgery with the staggeringly cruel Stalinist regime, including life in the gulag.

I found the narrative device (switching inside various POVs, including Stalin, briefly, and Sir Anthony Blunt, the long-successful Soviet spy) combined with present tense somewhat jarring, but those were bumps in an otherwise twisty road that kept me engrossed half the night.

Pasha is a gifted artist, chosen out of the very poor with little prospect of advancement by a university artist, who trains him. He's nearing the end of his training when he's abruptly plucked from his home by the secret police, and sent via cattle car to a gulag, where he discovers himself among a lot of other artists also plucked abruptly from home. They are there to reproduce Leonardo da Vinci drawings, presumably among the loot Stalin got from Berlin, but also funneled to him via Blunt (who was a real spy).

I have never studied Stalinist USSR in depth as the level of human misery was so profoundly awful, but from what I've picked up, what happens to Pasha has the ring of truth. Through it, glancingly, Doherty conveys what happens when the mass of people believe the government propaganda and worship a thoroughly toxic leader.

But the camera stays firmly on Pasha, who in spite of the horror, goes to a silent place inside when drawing.

What happens to him, to those in their particular camp and afterward, is convincing, heart-breaking, affirming by turns.

Thank you NetGalley for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Leonardo Gulag
By: Kevin Doherty

REVIEW ☆☆☆☆
The premise of The Leonardo Gulag is really fascinating. It's something I have never heard about before this book. Expecting perfect replication, the captors have no sympathy for imperfection. Can you imagine facing death this way? It's a tense story that will keep you riveted and wanting more. Any fan of art history should definitely take a look at this book. I enjoyed it and recommend because it's different and well done.

In 1950s Russia, Stalin sent many artists to gulags to forge the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. The plan was to switch these forgeries and steal the originals. The lives of the various artists are well written about and their plight well explained.

Exotic (for me) location, unusual plot and a bit of literary license with history made "The Leonardo Gulag" and enjoyable book to read.

The Leonardo Gulag is a fascinating work. I chose to read it because it combined art and intrigue, much like my favorite spy novels, the Gabriel Allon series by David Silva. In it, young art student, Pasha Kalmenov, is rousted from his bed by the police and taken away despite his and his mother’s protests that he’s done nothing wrong. He’s forced into a cattle car, but unlike the political prisoners in neighboring cars, he’s given food, breaks to exercise, and warmer clothing. The political prisoners are dropped off along the way, but Pasha and other artists like him are taken to a gulag far beyond the Arctic Circle. They are forced to duplicate original drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. If an artists work doesn’t meet the strict criteria, they are executed.

This is an intense read, a story of personal strength and determination—the will to survive.

This was a very good book, it starts in the 1950’s in Russia, Stalin is in power and Gulags are populated by pretty much anyone that runs afoul of Russian authorities. Our main character is Pasha Kalmenov a talented artist who is exempt from working so he can continue to develop his artistic ability. One night a militia team arrive at his apartment and arrest him. He eventually ends up in a gulag in northern Russian, within the Arctic Circle. It is numbingly cold and there is a significant amount of snow. Pasha and a number of others are isolated, they have their own dormitories for the men and women and are treated well, to the extent that they are not beaten or forced to do manual labour for hours on end. They instead are tasked with creating perfect forgeries of Leonardo da Vinci drawings, the forgeries must be perfect in all respects, if not, well you don’t want to be one who is found to be not perfect. This was a very engaging read, I found the pages flew by, highly recommended. The author provided some historical detail at the end, some of the characters and events had were based on events that had actually occurred. Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC.

Stalin was a leader to be feared and his gulag system was filled with dissidents, criminals and citizens arrested for no apparent reason. Pasha Kalmenov was an artist who found himself in a gulag simply because he had an incredible talent. At the age of eight he was singled out by his teacher for his ability to draw and was accepted for further training in Moscow. At the age of twenty he was taken by the militia and transported with other artists to the Leonardo Gulag. Rather than working in mines or hard labor, their task was to reproduce the works of Leonardo da Vinci.

Feeling humiliated in the presence of Churchill and Roosevelt, Stalin plotted his revenge. With the death of Roosevelt, he concentrated his efforts on England. Anthony Blunt, Surveyor of the King’s Pictures, secretly worked for Russia, smuggling original works of art to be copied at the gulag. The copies would later be returned to England with the originals going into Stalin’s collection. The artists were judged on their work and only perfection assured their survival.

Meager rations, below zero temperatures and the threat of typhus brought the artists together. Relationships were formed and Pavel became close to Victor and Irina. After months of practice, special paper was brought in with the original works and the killings started for those artists deemed imperfect, with everyone living in fear of being called away from their work table.

Pavel grows from a naive young man who is sure that he was taken by mistake to a survivor. It is his friendship with Victor that keeps him going. Even after disaster strikes, it is the memory of those he has lost that sees him through. This is a story of determination and the will to survive. It will stay with you long after the last page has been turned. I would like to thank Oceanview Publishing and NetGalley for providing this book for my review.

A gripping read, with excellent descriptions of mid-century Soviet fears and faith in the Party and cult of Josef Stalin.Nicely riffed off the penetration of the British establishment by communist agents

A unique plot about the spy who smuggled priceless treasures from the collection of Queen Elizabeth and passed them on to be copied by artists conscripted by the Russian secret police and spirited off to the gulag while their work was passed off as authentic and their forgeries replaced in their stead by Sir Anthony Blunt
Or were they, ? This is a well written and original thriller that will make you think twice the next time you find yourself at an exhibit of Leonardo DaVinci.