Around James

A remarkable collection of short stories set at different times around the Jakub pond

The author's original contribution to the eternal literary theme of the little man in the whirlwind of great history, the stories of specific individuals against the background of historical turning points and social transformations that fundamentally affect their lives.

The connecting element is a point in the landscape, the Jakub pond, which touches each of them. One time it is the war with the Swedes and the children trapped in it, the other time it is a peasant in a small settlement threatened by the presence of the Red Army, and another time revolutionary justice catches up with a political prominent. The form and intentions of the movers and shakers of history, however, are not important in the face of an imminent threat to the bare existence of man.

Jakubský Pond on the border of eastern and central Bohemia is the largest pond of the Dymokur pond system founded in the 15th century. It is surrounded by forests and on its banks is a single settlement, the small settlement of Desert... A peaceful place in the woods, around which history marches.