Beasts, Men and Gods

Antoni Ferdynand Ossendowski (27 May 1876 - 3 January 1945) was a Polish writer, explorer, university professor, member of the French Academy, and anti-Communist political activist. He is best known for his books about Lenin and the Russian Civil War, a war in which he participated. In 1907 he was released from prison with a so-called wolf ticket, which prevented him from finding a job or leaving Russia. At that time he devoted himself to writing. His novel V ludskoi pyli (In Human...
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Antoni Ferdynand Ossendowski (27 May 1876 - 3 January 1945) was a Polish writer, explorer, university professor, member of the French Academy, and anti-Communist political activist. He is best known for his books about Lenin and the Russian Civil War, a war in which he participated. In 1907 he was released from prison with a so-called wolf ticket, which prevented him from finding a job or leaving Russia. At that time he devoted himself to writing. His novel V ludskoi pyli (In Human Dust), in which he described his several-years-long stay in Russian prisons, gained him much popularity in Russia and was even described by Leo Tolstoy as one of his favorites. The popularity allowed him to return to St Petersburg in 1908. There he continued to write books and at the same time headed the Society of the Gold and Platinum Industry and several newspapers and journals, both in Russian and in Polish. After the outbreak of World War I, Ossendowski published several more books, including a science fiction novel, a propaganda novel on German spies in Russia and a brochure describing German and Austro-Hungarian war crimes.