The Bloody White Baron

"The Bloody White Baron" by James Palmer

Ungern von Sternberg was a dick. Born into an aristocratic German family in Tsarist Russia he looked down on most people but was a complete failure at most things in his life. He found his calling when he became a calvary office and soon gained a reputation as a brutal sadist. Sent to Russia's far east to confront the Japanese, he fell in love with the culture and religions of the region and made sure he was posted back there after the conflict ended. Needless to say he made a hash of things and was thrown out of a regiment or two. As imperial Russia fell apart and the Bolsheviks came to power he saw himself as a defender of the old traditions and the divine right of kings. This led him to become a leader of one of the 'White' factions in the Russian civil war and he raised a rag-tag army to follow him.
Eventually he decided to liberate Mongolia from the Chinese and use it as a base for his grand plans to reconquer the world. He had initial success but his bizarre befiefs and grandiose view of himself led him to utter failure. He was captured, tried and executed by the Soviets. Somehow he's become some sort of cult figure for right-wing dicks who see him as some proto-Nazi hero due to his anti-semetic, anti communist, anti-anyone conspiracy views..well they're welcome to him.This is a pretty straight forward book recounting what we know about the Baron's life and trying to fill in some gaps in knowledge. The author also provides a lot of interesting facts regarding eastern religion, cultures and the geo-political situation in the early part of the 20th century. It was a great read and told me much about a little discussed period in history.