For a Just Cause

"For a Just Cause" (1943–1952, published 1952) is the first part of Vasily Grossman's "Stalingrad" duology, more well-known to readers by its second novel, "Life and Fate" (1950–1959, published 1980), which brought the author worldwide fame. Growing out of Grossman's real frontline experience as a war correspondent for the newspaper "Red Star," who personally participated in the battles on the front line of Stalingrad's defense, this book faced devastating criticism in party circles upon its release, which turned into a real persecution of the writer and predetermined the difficult publishing fate of the second part of the duology. Today, this novel, capturing the pain and losses of the early war years, stands alongside the best examples of domestic prose, imbued with "trench truth" about the great battle, such as "Days and Nights" and "The Living and the Dead" by K. Simonov, "In the Trenches of Stalingrad" by V. Nekrasov, and "Hot Snow" by Yu. Bondarev. Grossman created a book sustained in the epic tradition of Leo Tolstoy: behind the life stories of dozens of people—from a simple soldier and worker to an academic and general—one can feel the mighty breath of great History, forever altering millions of human destinies.