Smiting the Bear is the journal of Archibald Fox's extraordinary adventures in the Russian wasteland of 1920-21.

Known in his day as a spy, thief, forger, womaniser and saxophonist, Fox was an unlikely witness to this dark, forgotten time. Determined to steal a Faberge Egg and seduce the former mistress of Vladimir Lenin, he remained in Russia when the other Revolutionary tourists fled.

He is forced to witness elaborate torture, celebrated by an entire village. He is compelled to partake in the new cuisine; cannibalism. He is petrified in the ghost cities by hunger, madness,...