SCARLET SAILS is the first novel by the Russian writer Alexander Green to be translated into English. Like almost all of Green's writings, it is non-Russian in theme and setting. Its appeal is timeless and universal. In general, Green's stories have been compared to those of Jack Lon-don, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bret Harte. Green's most famous work, sCARLET SAILS, exemplifies the author's enduring faith in what he himself calls "the Beautiful Unknown." And it is in the words of Arthur Grey, the hero of SCARLET SAILS, that the underlying theme of all Green's works is best expressed: "I believe that the ancient concept of the beautiful, the unattainable, is, in essence, just as attainable and possible as a walk in the country." Arthur Grey falls in love with Asole without ever having exchanged a word with her, because through her he has learned that "miracles are made with one's own hands." In SCARLET SaILS, Green has created his own kind of miracle. He has made the unbelievable believable by magic so immediate that he makes the reader want to believe. First published in 1923 in the Soviet Union, the basis of a ballet and a motion picture, ScARLET SAILS remains one of the best-loved classics of Russian literature.