First published 1981
Captain Alexei Otraveskov finds himself caught in the chaos as the Bolshevik Revolution erupts around him. The old Russia he knew crumbles while revolutionary forces seize control, leaving him to navigate a world where familiar structures collapse overnight. Otraveskov experiences the revolution not as grand historical theater but as immediate, personal upheaval. He witnesses the terror and confusion that grip ordinary people as their lives shatter. The captain must survive in a landscape where loyalty means nothing and violence strikes without warning. His story unfolds through fragmented encounters and desperate choices rather than heroic gestures. Hutchinson presents the revolution as Otraveskov lived it, stripped of political rhetoric and reduced to human survival. The novel captures how massive historical forces feel when they crush individual lives. This is the revolution seen from street level, where ideology matters less than finding food and staying alive. Otraveskov's testament reveals the human cost of political transformation.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, russian-literature
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, personal-upheaval
Setting: Russia
Period: Early 20th Century
1 pages · Paperback · PENGUIN PUTNAM * TRADE
Content warnings: violence