The story of a sabre

The story of a sabre is based on a historical fact. In the autumn of 1944, the Germans occupied Carnia with the help of their Cossack allies, who had been promised a plot of land on which to build an independent Cossack homeland, a Kosakenland. In May of the following year, the Cossacks discovered they had been used and deceived. Abandoned to their fate, facing the advancing Red Army, they surrendered to the British, who, in fulfilment of the secret Yalta agreements, handed them over to the Soviets, an end the Cossacks had tried at all costs to avoid. Aware of the profound defeat, they chose collective suicide in the river Drava.

Because this event has received little attention from history, Claudio Magris is prompted to write a moving essay on the fate and tragedy of life, but also on the pleasant moments it bestows. Its protagonist is the old Cossack general Krasnov. Magris makes him a mirror of many human weaknesses, so that we understand that Krasnov's mistakes are often our own. This work deals with the falsehood and truths of history. History has a cold view of the history of the Cossacks, while the book presents facts about how researchers, historians and chroniclers are prone to trust different versions.

After Magris's masterpiece Danube, published a year earlier, The story of a sabre is the second title by this author to come out in Albanian, from the ALBAS publishing house.