A White Sail Gleams

Moscow [USSR]: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1954. First English Language Edition. Quarto with grey boards and gold and white stamping; illustrated endpapers; 294 pages: illustrations; 27 cm. Very good to very good (-); boards a bit rubbed, mostly at edges and spine; leaves are a bit age toned but clean; binding tight. Hardcover.

"Valentin Petrovich Kataev (1897–1986) was a distinguished Soviet novelist, playwright, and editor born in Odessa. His semi-autobiographical novella A White Sail Gleams, originally written around 1936, vividly recaptures the atmosphere of early 20th century Odessa. The story casts a nostalgic light over the Revolution of 1905 and the Potemkin mutiny through the eyes of two schoolboys, Petya Bachei and his friend Gavrik, as they roam their neighborhood and glimpse the growing revolutionary fervor around them .Translated into English in 1954 by Leonard Stoklitsky and illustrated by V. N. Goryaev, the edition was published by the Moscow Foreign Languages Publishing House as part of its “Soviet Literature for Young People” series . As a coming-of-age tale, it blends youthful innocence and idealism with a politically charged backdrop, exploring themes of loyalty, loss, and revolutionary awakening" --