Novel
Volokolamsk Highway
Волоколамское шоссе
Alexander Bek · 1943
Synopsis
Autumn 1941, outside Moscow. Lieutenant Baurjan Momysh-Uly, commander of an infantry battalion of the Panfilov division, tells how he turned his recruits, Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs or Dagestanis, into a force able to hold its ground while the army retreats and abandons villages and towns. He has to choose between severity and forgiveness towards those who falter, between obedience to orders and concern for saving lives, between fighting to the death and fighting to survive; General Panfilov, more humane than he is, helps him in this.
Context
The narrative, in the first person, follows the words of Momysh-Uly, whose testimony the writer gathered during the war. It forms a tetralogy: the first two parts appeared in 1943 and 1944, notably in the journal Znamia, the last two in 1959 and 1960, after nearly twenty years of work. Momysh-Uly was made a Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously in 1990. The book was translated into French as early as 1946 by Michel-Rostislav Hofmann, then by Lily Denis at Gallimard in 1965, and into English under the title Volokolamsk Highway; a film was made from it in 1967.
Who it is for
A sober, thoughtful war narrative about fear, discipline and the responsibility of the commander, readable without knowing military history.
Prizes and reception
According to the publisher Azbuka, Palmiro Togliatti counted it among the greatest literary works born of the last war.