Book 1

August 1914

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Published 18 September 1972
The first of a series of interlinked novels whose grand theme is the birth of modern Russia, this book describes the advance by the Russian army into East Prussia at the outbreak of World War I, and its virtual annihilation at the hands of the Germans. The author uses the techniques of non-fiction within a fictional framework and evokes not only the military campaign but also the experience of the men and women caught up in the events.