The Highest Virtue Author:Alan Stang "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad," said Longfellow, and THE HIGHEST VIRUTUE is a story of madness. It is a story of Russia during the Revolution, when people went mad with fear, with hate, awith hunger and power--as the Communists took over. It is the story of Maria Danilova, the young ballerina spoiled by wealth, who is sudd... more »enly stripped of everything and must fight to survive. It is the story of the men who loved her: Michael, the bitter ex-convict, betrayed into servitude; Telegin, the master of opportunism and deception; Orloff, her uncle, torn between his promise to save her and his Cause. It is the story of the collapse of an Empire, of civil war, of conspiracy and riots, cowardice and heroism, teeming with characters in a style as big as Russia. But more than anything else, THE HIGHEST VIRTUE is the story of people who suffer brutality, betrayal, starvation and raper--and who nevertheless refuse to give up.« less