{"product_id":"9781529414752-people-immortal","title":"The People Immortal","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003eVasily Grossman's third great war novel, written before \u003ci\u003eLife and Fate\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eStalingrad\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of Grossman's three great war novels - alongside \u003ci\u003eLife and Fate\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eStalingrad.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A significant, valuable addition to Grossman's small but powerful body of work\" WILLIAM BOYD\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003eA remarkable novel that illuminates the terrible realities of Barbarossa and the banal horror of warfare with incomparable understanding and insight\" JONATHAN DIMBLEBY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There are always good reasons for reading Grossman, but few times are as resonant as our own\" \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"At the heart of his writing lies a tireless humanity and empathy\" \u003ci\u003eTelegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Grossman combines a journalist's eye with a novelist's empathy\" \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSet during the catastrophic defeats of the war's first months, it tracks a Red Army regiment that wins a minor victory in eastern Belorussia but fails to exploit this success.  A battalion is then entrusted with the task of slowing the German advance, and eventually encircled, before ultimately breaking out and joining with the rest of the Soviet forces.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGrossman's descriptions of the natural world - and his characters' relationship to it - are both vivid and unexpected, as are his memorable character sketches:  eleven-year-old Lionya is determined to hang on to his toy revolver as he walks a long distance behind German lines; his defiant grandmother slaps a German officer in the face and is shot; Kotenko, a fiercely anti-Soviet peasant who initially welcomes the Germans, hangs himself in despair when they treat him with contempt; and Semion Ignatiev, a womanizer and gifted story-teller, turns out to be the boldest and most resourceful of the rank-and file soldiers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGrossman spent most of the war years close to the front line. But \u003ci\u003eThe People Immortal\u003c\/i\u003e is far from being mere morale-boosting propaganda. On the contrary, as letters included in this volume make clear, it was read as a textbook, and as a work of military education. This edition includes not only the unredacted novel itself, translated here for the first time since 1946, but also a wealth of background material.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA heavily redacted English translation of \u003ci\u003eThe People Immortal \u003c\/i\u003ewas published in 1946. This current edition is the first that reflects Grossman's original text.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTranslated from the Russian by Robert and Elizabeth Chandler\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40856318738529,"sku":"9781529414752","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_28236328.jpg?v=1722450569","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781529414752-people-immortal","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}