This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events and persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission from the author.
Publisher:
CCB Publishing
British Columbia, Canada
TO
ULLA
MY WIFE
WHO IS TRULY
THE COMPANION FOR THE VOYAGE
Novels by Lester S. Taube :
The Grabbers
(republished as: The Diamond Boomerang)
Peter Krimsov
(republished as: The Stalingrad Conspiracy)
Myer For Hire
The Cossack Cowboy
Enemy of the Tzar
Atonement for Iwo
I Contadini
The Land of Thunder
Publishers :
W.H. Allen – London, England
Ediçöes Dêagá – Lisbon, Portugal
Lademann Forlagsaktieslskab – Copenhagen, Denmark
Longanesi – Milan, Italy
Van Lekturama – Rotterdam, Holland
S. Fischer Verlag – Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Winthers Forlag – Copenhagen, Denmark
Pocket Books – USA
Pinnacle – USA
Bookman – USA
Cherica Publishers – USA
CCB Publishing – Canada
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
Chapter I
The
