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The Man from St. Petersburg

ken follett

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His name was Feliks.  He came to London to commit a murder that would change history.  A master manipulator, he had many weapons at his command, but against him were ranged the whole of the English police, a brilliant and powerful lord, and the young Winston Churchill himself.  These odds would have stopped any man in the world-except the man from St. Petersburg...

The Man From St Petersburg is a dark tale of family secrets and political consequences. Ken Follett's masterful storytelling brings to life the danger of a world on the brink of war. A Secret Negotiation 1914. Tensions are rising as Europe finds itself caught in a web of alliances and dangerous warmongering. To help tip the balance in their favour, Britain aims to draw Russia into an alliance with them instead of Germany. Czar Nicholas’s nephew, Prince Aleksei, is sent to London for secret naval talks with Lord Walden. A Play for Power Walden has a personal connection to Aleksei; his wife is Aleksei’s aunt. And they are not the only ones interested in the Russian's arrival; so too are Walden’s willful, idealistic daughter, the head of Special Branch, and a ruthless Russian anarchist. A World at War With the British desperately needing a signed treaty and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, the destinies of these individuals become inextricably linked, as tragedy threatens to shatter the Waldens’ complacency . . .

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 1,1982
Places
london england, 

This edition

Format
320 pages, Paperback
Published
June 3, 2003 by Penguin Books
ISBN
9780451208705
ASIN
0451208706
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Lord Stephen Walden

    Lord Stephen Walden

    ...

  • Lady Lydia Walden

    Lady Lydia Walden

    A Russian aristocrat, Count Shatovas daughter before her marriage to Lord Walden. more...

  • Charlotte Walden

    Charlotte Walden

    ...

  • Feliks Kschessinsky

    Feliks Kschessinsky

    Lady Lydias young lover before she married Lord Walden. Son of a country priest from Tambov province, Russia. An anarchist who was on his own mission to assassin Prince Orlov.more...

  • Prince Aleks Orlov

    Prince Aleks Orlov

    Czar Nicholass nephew, also Lord Waldens nephew by his marriage to Lady Lydia. Was sent to London for high-level bilateral talks.more...

  • Winston Churchill

    Winston Churchill

    Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) was a British statesman, army officer, and writer, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. As a Member of Parliament (MP), he represented five constituencies over th...

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About the author

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ken follett

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Ken Follett is one of the world's most successful authors. Over 170 million copies of the 36 books he has written have been sold in over 80 countries and in 33 languages.

Born on June 5th, 1949 in Cardiff, Wales, the son of a tax inspector, Ken was educated at state schools and went on to graduate from University College, London, with an Honours degree in Philosophy – later to be made a Fellow of the College in 1995.

He started his career as a reporter, first with his hometown newspaper the South Wales Echo and then with the London Evening News. Subsequently, he worked for a small London publishing house, Everest Books, eventually becoming Deputy Managing Director.

Ken's first major success came with the publication of Eye of the Needle in 1978. A World War II thriller set in England, this book earned him the 1979 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. It remains one of Ken's most popular books.

In 1989, Ken's epic novel about the building of a medieval cathedral, The Pillars of the Earth, was published. It reached number one on best-seller lists everywhere and was turned into a major television series produced by Ridley Scott, which aired in 2010. World Without End, the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, proved equally popular when it was published in 2007.

Ken's new book, The Evening and the Morning, will be published in September 2020. It is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth and is set around the year 1,000, when Kingsbridge was an Anglo-Saxon settlement threatened by Viking invaders.

Ken has been active in numerous literacy charities and was president of Dyslexia Action for ten years. He was chair of the National Year of Reading, a joint initiative between government and businesses. He is also active in many Stevenage charities and is President of the Stevenage Community Trust and Patron of Home-Start Hertfordshire.

Ken, who loves music almost as much as he loves books, is an enthusiastic bass guitar player. He lives in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, with his wife Barbara, the former Labour Member of Parliament for Stevenage. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren and two Labradors.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
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100 reviews All reviews
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angel_nari
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Another winner by Ken Follett! It takes a great writer to put history, suspense, psychological, and some romance into one book, and Follett is one of those great writers!

The Man From St. Petersburg takes place in London, England in the early 1900's right before the start of the First World War. A mysterious man named Feliks travels to London to kill a man and change history. But when plotting the demise he comes face to face with a woman he had an affair with years ago, who is now the wife of a powerful English lord who is meeting with Feliks's target.

The story also had many Historical facts, one being when women were not allowed to vote. Towards the end I was up past my bedtime waiting to see what would happen next! The character of Feliks was very interesting, I was expecting him to be a cold-hearted killer but after getting to know him, I considered him a cross between James Bond and Darth Vader. There were times when he'd show his good side, and times when he's show his evil side.

Exciting thriller! Awesome book!
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gwern
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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4.5
Es el primer libro que leo del autor y me gustó.
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Una historia amena, sobre una familia acomodada que debe enfrentar un pasado sombrío. Al mismo tiempo los personajes tienen diferentes posiciones sobre socialismo, anarquismo y la lucha del sufragio femenino. El eje principal es la intriga política y como hay quienes están dispuestos en perder su propia vida con tal de que se alcance aquello en lo que creen.
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Mi personaje favorito fue Carlotte Walden, una joven que fue criada en una burbuja de cristal, es muy inocente con las situaciones que se viven en el mundo y no ve la malicia en los demás, pero que cuando empieza a darse cuenta de la crueldad de la sociedad desafía a sus padres. Y aunque su final parece no ser feliz, vivió situaciones que me hacen pensar que su pensamiento madura y se convierte en una buena mujer.
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En algunos momentos la trama es predecible, pero de igual manera se convierte en una novela interesante y entretenida.
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timidphossu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I love Follett! And this is another of his book I devoured. History and fiction, past and present, war and peace, love and hatred, betrayal and support all are there to catch the reader in a network of feeling.
You have balls and fights in the same story. Real historical figures come to teach you a bit of history or just to make you wonder: what if...
And you may have an idea about how some people - just a few - make history (and not in a good way!!!)
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Kemeath
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Me pareció una novela de términos medios, en ocasiones entretenida en otras un poco lenta, pero en general es una historia que logró mantenerme atento de principio a fin, siempre me han llamado los libros sobre las grandes guerras, el saber como se llegó a estas y en general todo lo que lleva a la concepción de estas me ha parecido fascinante. Aqui vemos por un lado la estrategia de varios países involucrados en la gran guerra y por otro lado la historia de la lucha de las sufraguistas por parte de Charlotte que me pareció un poco mal llevada pero que mantuvo mi atención, en general un libro que disfrute bastante
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MyAngelRecia
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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My first Ken Follett read! I finished this in my second sitting. I forgot why I stopped reading this the first time.

Great book. I loved how Follett wrote the ending, summarising what happened to the characters. And I can picture one character's melancholy, possibly because of the same character's short-sidedness.

This book reads like a Russian classic and thriller and is a philosophical work about the ideas of Anarchism and Suffragettism in 1914. It is about a tragedy of aristocracy and raging hormones.

I have some issues with Charlotte and Feliks. I want to believe in them, but I can't help that they are equally incompetent and responsible for this drama and how their lives unfolded. Charlotte is naive about the world around her. But when she finds out that her life is too good to be true and her Papa and Mama, aristocrats and, by definition: 'evil' people because of their social rank, willingly send one of their maids away because of getting pregnant (frowned upon back in the day), does it account for her behaviour than on, even though her Papa promised to help the said maid? Again, she's naive. And Feliks, anarchism is supposed to bring a Utopian society. But should that dream come at the cost of a bullet?

Bible verse: 'There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.' Words to live by, I suppose.
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AndieJ
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Bravo.

Have you ever found yourself rooting for an assassin? Well, fasten your seatbelts.

Follett has created a wonderful character in Feliks. He’s a lover of Alexander Pushkin’s literature, lover of culture, art and history – as well as a fabulous lover in bed – he bleeds passion for his love and for his cause. But Feliks is also a hardened criminal. Often misunderstood. Shipped to Siberia and tortured all because he fell in love with a girl of a higher social status.

Follett sets this tumultuous novel as Europe is on the brink of WWI – The summer of 1914. Germany had already been preparing for war, both to the east and to the west. Defeat or victory appears to lie within the hands of the Russians. The Russians sends the Czar’s nephew, Prince Orlov, to England to investigate and negotiate a treaty in secrecy.

But group of anarchist, with spies in the Russian Secret Police, find out about Prince Orlov’s secret meeting. The anarchists feel the Czar is trying to drag innocent Russian peasants into fighting a war they neither care about, nor believe in.

So to prevent disaster, the anarchists send the infamous Feliks Kschessinsky to assassinate Prince Orlov. But when Feliks arrives to England, he finds secrets from his past that threaten to get in the way of his mission.

As the lies, deceit, betrayal, adultery, abound, you will be given a front-row seat to the decisions that unleashed WW1 and a look into the lives of the people whom made those decision.

There were other characters there weren’t as fleshed out, namely, Prince Orlov, the man who Feliks is trying to assassinate. If I knew more about Orlov, his fate would have mattered to me more – but since I know nothing about him, except that he’s the Czar’s nephew, I could care less about what happens to him. That was the only minor flaw I found with the book.

So while the novel was MASTERFULLY plotted, wonderfully paced, the writing did become a bit dense and dry at times. But that’s just nitpicking.

Feliks Kschessinsky is a Great Romantic Russian Hero that you may remember long after reading The Man from St. Petersburg.
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Casual_Toast
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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"The ultimate truth about oppression: that it works by turning its victims against each other instead of against their oppressors."

Great story, as always.
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