Taras Bulba

[βαθμιαίος]

Are you sure he's not an historical figure?

No, not at all. I had never heard of Taras Bulba before reading the Law of One books -- I know very little about him or about Gogol's book.

Here's a link to the text of the book, including an introduction by John Cournos, at Project Gutenberg.

A quick scan of that introduction doesn't seem to indicate that Taras Bulba was a historical figure, but I may be missing it or you may have read a different introduction.

Your comments about the "positive" aspects of STS and about the intensity of personal character involved make good sense.