Jaan Kross' first major novel dramatises the life of the renowned Livonian/Estonian Chronicler Balthasar Russow, whose Livonian Chronicle describes the effects of the Livonian War on the peasantry of what is now Estonia.For all his subsequent eminence, Russow was born the humble son of a peasant, and Between Three Plagues, chronicles his rise. As a boy, his thirst for knowledge is supported by his father, and good fortune allows him to study in various German universities, returning to Tallinn as a German-speaking clergyman. As Livonia continues to be used as a political football by the warring powers of Russia, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania, Russow continues to climb the slippery pole of power and influence. Like Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell, he is a diamond in the rough, a thoroughly modern man in an Early Modern world, achieving greatness through wit and learning alone.