New York: Random House, 1905. First edition - Described as part biography, part history, part detective story, this is the story of Lev Nussimbaum's short life - born in Baku on the Caspian Sea in 1905 to a wealthy Jewish family, he escaped the Russian Revolution in a camel caravan. Writing under the names of Essad Bey and Kurban Said (including the classic star-crossed love story "Ali and Nino"), he became a best-selling author in fascist Europe, married an international heiress, was invited to be Mussolini's official biographer - but sacrificed opportunities to save himself. Based on recently discovered diaries by Nussimbaum and over 300 private letters, this is the story of how Reiss tracked down the identity of…
New York: Random House, 1905. First edition - Described as part biography, part history, part detective story, this is the story of Lev Nussimbaum's short life - born in Baku on the Caspian Sea in 1905 to a wealthy Jewish family, he escaped the Russian Revolution in a camel caravan. Writing under the names of Essad Bey and Kurban Said (including the classic star-crossed love story "Ali and Nino"), he became a best-selling author in fascist Europe, married an international heiress, was invited to be Mussolini's official biographer - but sacrificed opportunities to save himself. Based on recently discovered diaries by Nussimbaum and over 300 private letters, this is the story of how Reiss tracked down the identity of the author of Ali and Nino, and became fascinated by the paradoxes in the life and personality of that author. Notes. 409 pp.