The first in a trio of novels set during World War II, including Stalingrad and Grossman’s most well-known work, Life and Fate, The People Immortal is set during the catastrophic first months of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It is the tale of an army battalion dispatched to slow the advancing enemy at any cost, with encirclement and annihilation its promised end. This new edition, published by New York Review Books Classics and with a new English translation by Robert and Elizabeth Chandler, includes never before published passages from Grossman’s manuscript. It represents the most complete edition of this work published so far in any language, including Grossman’s native Russian. The edition also includes an appendix with additional essays by Grossman as well as an introduction and afterword, and notes explaining the history of this edition and the decision of the translators to include specific passages. The result is a work not only of considerable literary significance but also an important historical document.
The World Socialist Web Site has published reviews of these recent editions, as well as an extensive interview with translator Robert Chandler.
Read the WSWS review: The People Immortal
Read the WSWS review: Stalingrad
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