Alexei Bayer: Crimean roots of Russia's intervention in Syria

Vasily Aksyonov’s 1979 novel “The Island of Crimea” is set in fictional Crimea which the Whites managed to hold on to at the end of the Civil War. Crimea, which is assumed by the novel to be an island, has been transformed into a rich multicultural entrepot, much like Kuomintang-controlled Taiwan off the coast of mainland China. The protagonist works toward Crimea’s reunification with the Soviet Union, and when it happens everyone ends up badly as the tiny island of prosperity and freedom is extinguished by the brutal Soviet occupation.