Moscow, "Evropa" Publishing House, 2006 - 288 pp.
What do we know about the true story of the Brest peace accords? Almost nothing. Only some fragmented recollections of the Soviet books and films that mainly served as illustrations to Stalin's «Short history course of the Bolshevik party». These books are cursed with oblivion. However, the lengthy relation of the negotiations that led to a separate peace between the revolutionary Russia from the one side and Germany with its allies on the other reads almost like a detective novel. What makes it especially spicy – a fact that is little known outside a tiny circle of experts – is that the Russian diplomatic defeat in Brest-Litovsk was due not only to the inconsistent adventurism of the Petrograd negotiators. A key role in the game was played by a «joker». A new partner has unexpectedly joined the negotiating table, the Ukrainian Central Rada and – notwithstanding its precarious position – managed to sign a separate peace accord with Germany behind the back of the Petrograd delegation.
