Joseph Mozur teaches Russian language and literature at the University of South Alabama. He received his Ph.D. in Slavic languages from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
2010 0-7734-3813-0 This book is one of few works by a Soviet writer that provides an honest portrayal of the life of a Soviet foot soldier on the Eastern front in World War II. Aside from the brilliant depiction of life at the front, it reveals how members of Stalin’s secret police transformed themselves into war heroes and began to resurrect Stalinism, following the War. Understandably, Bykau’s novel was res non grata and not published in its entirety until after the demise of the Soviet Union.