Translating an Epic: Vasily Grossman’s Stalingrad

Russian author Vasily Grossman spent four years reporting from the Eastern Front during WWII, where he claimed to read only one book, twice: Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

Grossman produced two novels – Stalingrad, and its sequel, Life and Fate – based on his experience of the pitiless Nazi siege of the city. Like War and Peace, this a family saga; it tells the tale of the Shaposhnikov family and their friends as they battle with the brutalities of war and totalitarianism. Robert Chandler has produced a magnificent first translation into English of Grossman’s masterpiece, one of the supreme accomplishments of 20th century literature.