Part two of Lesley Blanch's Sabres of Paradise is takes us beyond beyond introductions and scene setting and places the reader in the middle of the push and pull of rebellion. (Though many scenes are still set and characters introduced in Lesley Blanch's signature prose). The Russians acclimate to fighting in the Caucasus and the people of the Caucasus hold fast under the relentless onslaught of Russian invasion. We discuss where Murid resistance frays in the examples of Hamzad Beg and Shamyl's own son, the early examples of guerilla tactics and counter-insurgency present in the Murid War, the and the terrifying counterfactual of horse-sized war cats.

Intro and outro Music: Laudanum by Velvet Cacoon