A Writer at War
Grossman's wartime notebooks as a Red Army correspondent, edited by Antony Beevor — Stalingrad, Kursk, Treblinka, Berlin.
The Verdict
Some of the finest war reporting ever written, from the war's worst places. These are Vasily Grossman's notebooks as a Red Army correspondent — Stalingrad, Kursk, the liberation of Treblinka, the fall of Berlin — edited by Antony Beevor into a continuous narrative. Grossman saw more of the Eastern Front's horror than almost any writer and recorded it with a novelist's eye and a moral seriousness that would later flower in Life and Fate. Indispensable, and often unbearable.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- Frontline reporting from the Eastern Front
- Readers who admire Life and Fate
- The first eyewitness account of an extermination camp
- Superb war writing at close range
Look elsewhere if you want
- A continuous single narrative
- Readers wanting strategy or overview
- A gentle introduction to the Eastern Front
Why We Rated It 4.7
Historical Context
Grossman reported for the Red Army newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda throughout the war, present at Stalingrad, Kursk, the liberation of the Treblinka extermination camp (on which he wrote the first published account), and the fall of Berlin. His notebooks were edited and translated by Antony Beevor and Luba Vinogradova in 2005.
Events Covered
Editions & Reading Notes
Read It Alongside
Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0307275332
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Frequently Asked Questions
- How does A Writer at War relate to Life and Fate?
- It collects the wartime reporting and notebooks that fed Grossman's great novel; reading it illuminates the experience behind the fiction.
- Did Grossman witness the camps?
- Yes — he was among the first to report on the Treblinka extermination camp, and his account was used as evidence at Nuremberg.