Тихий Дон

Тихий Дон by Михаил Шолохов tells of the Don Cossacks. War and social change reshape their long-held way of life. The wars are the First World War and Russia’s Civil War. This epic novel shows how both wars change Russia itself.

Sholokhov shows war as kin killing kin. He sees this as going against human nature. Finnish writer Martti Larni saw truth at the heart of his work. He saw human worth at its heart too. Larni’s view stresses how Sholokhov sees life plainly, as human drama.

The novel has four volumes. The first three came out between 1928 and 1932. Sholokhov was not yet thirty at that time. The fourth came out in 1940. The work brought him world fame and a Nobel Prize. Readers have read it in many languages. It has also led to several screen versions.