As Europe is sliding into the precipice of war, the undercover MI5 agent infiltrates the world of Art in Paris of 1911 to investigate the grand theft of the century and to reveal potential danger to the security of the nation. Crossing paths with Picasso, Ravel, Modigliani and other celebrities of the Belle Epoque brings forth their Muses, who happen to be the adventurous women from Russia. Through the prism of their serendipitous encounters, woven in the canvas of this book, the author presents a cross section of the European history and culture, well spiced with romance and a detective intrigue.

Agent Alpha, the MI5 operative, is involved in the investigation of the suspected art forgery. His adversaries are doing all in their power to eliminate him, but his extraordinary skills help him overcome the obstacles. His romantic involvement with the young medical doctor becomes the focal point of the story, that is full of mystery and suspense.

This book introduces a collection of Fazil Iskander's poetry in English. This selection of 70 poems of the master of Russian and Abkhazian Literature Fazil Iskander,nominated for the Nobel Prize, presents the poetry that is wise and beautiful in its philosophy. It embraces poems by Fazil Iskander,written by him during the span of time bridging the twentieth and twenty first century, from 1953 to 2013. They organically intertwine the intricate layers of people's lives, their intriguing fates, interconnectedness and cultural phenomena. In his poems, there is always an inner subtext behind the exterior subject.This book of poetic translations also contains an article on the art of Fazil Iskander by a historian Roman Gosin, and an essay on Fazil Iskander's poetry, written by a linguist Sophia Manukova, who made this first publication possible by selecting and translating his poetry. Sophia Manukova is a professor of English at the City College of San Francisco, California.