The Tsar’s Dragons - Catrin Collier

The first of a trilogy based on the exploits of John Hughes, who founded a city in Russia in the 1800s In 1869, Tsar Alexander II decided to drag Russia into the industrial age. He began by inviting Welsh businessman

John Hughes to build an ironworks.

A charismatic visionary, John persuaded influential people to invest in his venture, while concealing his greatest secret – he couldn’t even write his own name.

John recruited adventurers prepared to sacrifice everything to ensure the success of Hughesovka (Donetsk, Ukraine). Young Welsh men and women fleeing violence in their home country; Jews who have accepted Russian anti-Semitism as their fate and Russian aristocrats, all see a future in the Welshman’s plans.

In a place where murderers, whores, and illicit love affairs flourish,

The Tsar’s Dragon is their story of a new beginning in

Hughesovka, a town of opportunity.