Thais of Athens

You can familiarize yourself with the entire book in electronic format by following the link on the SZKEO website. The gift illustrated edition is printed on domestic pigmented thick book designer paper of cream color with a bookmark ribbon of the same color as the headband.

The action of the famous historical-adventure novel by Ivan Antonovich Efremov (1908–1972) "Thais of Athens" takes place in the era of Alexander the Great and the founder of the new ruling dynasty of Egypt, Ptolemy I. In this last novel, the author describes many historical figures of that time, transported from the depths of the centuries to the pages of the book. The main character is a historical figure, the hetaira Thais. The text is published without censored reductions. The edition is decorated with illustrations by artists Igor Shalito and Galina Boyko.

Ivan Antonovich Efremov worked for several years on his famous historical-adventure novel "Thais of Athens." He processed mountains of historical material, reflecting a thorough and methodical scientific approach to information processing. After all, Ivan Antonovich existed as if in two identities. He was known as a leading Soviet paleontologist, science organizer, winner of the Stalin Prize, head of a laboratory, and participant in more than thirty scientific expeditions. The dinosaur skeletons he found in the Gobi Desert became part of the golden fund of Moscow's Paleontological Museum. Outside scientific circles, Ivan Antonovich became known as a prominent science fiction writer of the "thaw" period. Even during the author's lifetime, he was spoken of as a classic of literature, a "great cosmic dreamer," who stood alongside such foreign luminaries of science fiction as Ray Bradbury, Arthur Clarke, and Isaac Asimov. The realm of science fiction allowed Efremov to touch upon themes that were scarcely addressed in Soviet literature. He wrote about the issue of overpopulation of the planet, the limitations of its resources, the impending globalization, the appeal to the subconscious… In his novel "Thais of Athens," he boldly raised the theme of free love and creatively infused many scenes with eroticism. In this work, Efremov's thought soars not into space, not to distant star civilizations, but into the depths of the centuries that separate us from the past as reliably as from distant planets—the cosmic vacuum. In "Thais of Athens," Efremov managed to overcome this barrier, and we see, thanks to the author's talent, in this novel the ancient world is not frozen in marble sculptures, but alive, vivid, trembling, and invariably exciting.

The book is adorned with illustrations by two artists: spouses Igor Naumovich Shalito and Galina Nikolaevna Boyko. In the 1960s, Shalito's drawings, which appeared on the pages of the magazine "Technique for Youth," immediately attracted readers' attention. They looked avant-garde and were nothing like illustrations made in the style of socialist realism. The covers of the books that Igor Naumovich designed for the series "Eureka," published by "Young Guard," also looked vibrant and unusual. In 1956, Shalito graduated from the Moscow Architectural Institute, and the skills he acquired there allowed him to boldly intersect elements of images in his drawing compositions. These are the types of drawings you see on the pages of this book. Together with his wife, Igor Naumovich created illustrations for all of Efremov's landmark works—"The Andromeda Nebula," "The Bull’s Hour," "The Razor’s Edge," and "Thais of Athens."