"Novels set in the Russian Civil War" Topic

Any good novels set in the Russian Civil War?
Looking for inspiration to help me paint up my army

Dr. Zhivago.

Check out the Wikipedia Entry They give a list of Novels and films set in the Civil War Period

link

The Road to Calvary (1922–41) by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Chapaev (1923) by Dmitri Furmanov
The Iron Flood (1924) by Alexander Serafimovich
Red Cavalry (1926) by Isaac Babel
The Rout (1927) by Alexander Fadeyev
How the Steel Was Tempered (1934) by Nikolai Ostrovsky
Optimistic Tragedy (1934) by Vsevolod Vishnevsky
And Quiet Flows the Don (1928–1940) by Mikhail Sholokhov
The Don Flows Home to the Sea (1940) by Mikhail Sholokhov
Doctor Zhivago (1957) by Boris Pasternak
The White Guard (1966) by Mikhail Bulgakov
Byzantium Endures (1981) by Michael Moorcock
Chevengur (novel) (ru) (written in 1927, first published in 1988 in the USSR) by Andrei Platonov.
Fall of Giants (2010) by Ken Follett
Last Train over Rostov Bridge (2011) by Marion Aten; revised edition originally published 1961.
A Splendid Little War (2012) by Derek Robinson (novelist)

An initial look suggests that most are not that well known
and may be difficult to find

I would suggest that the history book "Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War by Bruce Lincoln " It is a good summary and to me reads like a novel

Check out the Wikipedia Entry They give a list of Novels and films set in the Civil War Period

link

The Road to Calvary (1922–41) by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Chapaev (1923) by Dmitri Furmanov
The Iron Flood (1924) by Alexander Serafimovich
Red Cavalry (1926) by Isaac Babel
The Rout (1927) by Alexander Fadeyev
How the Steel Was Tempered (1934) by Nikolai Ostrovsky
Optimistic Tragedy (1934) by Vsevolod Vishnevsky
And Quiet Flows the Don (1928–1940) by Mikhail Sholokhov
The Don Flows Home to the Sea (1940) by Mikhail Sholokhov
Doctor Zhivago (1957) by Boris Pasternak
The White Guard (1966) by Mikhail Bulgakov
Byzantium Endures (1981) by Michael Moorcock
Chevengur (novel) (ru) (written in 1927, first published in 1988 in the USSR) by Andrei Platonov.
Fall of Giants (2010) by Ken Follett
Last Train over Rostov Bridge (2011) by Marion Aten; revised edition originally published 1961.
A Splendid Little War (2012) by Derek Robinson (novelist)

An initial look suggests that most are not that well known
and may be difficult to find

I would suggest that the history book "Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War by Bruce Lincoln " It is a good summary and to me reads like a novel

While set more in the civil war in Ukraine

"The White Guard" by Mikhail Bulgakov is a very good one as a start. There are a lot of good novels written in the 1920s period by Soviet authors, not all of which always toe the party line. Stalin's ascension put a stop to that.

And indeed a lot of them are very hard to find. Years ago I went looking for novels written by the Whites, and stumbled on a some academic books that collected short stories, most of them by Reds, and most of them are hard to find. One short story that capitavated me was The Train,or Night Train. It was written by a soviet author, later purged, and it was set on a White Guard train during the war and went through the thoughts and actions of various characters as the train was traveling to its doom at the hands of the Red GUARD.

For Films "Admiral" is a recent passable pro-White Guard film. The American "Reds" probably still remains one of the best films on the war from the side of the reds.

Anyway explore 1920s and ealry 1930s soviet production , both novels and films.

The Sholokhov stuff is a cut above. That being said, Bulgakov wrote one of my favorite books, Master & Margarita.

Second for Bulgakov's Master and Margarita, too.

I guess I'm not much of a historical novel reader, but "All quiet flows the Don" was very good, but its in no hurry to get anywhere.

Half way through, you'll feel like you grew up (and died of old age) in that Cossack village.

Light Cavalry Action. by John Harris. Set in 1939, but flashing back to 1919 and the British intervention in the south. Seems a hero of that period is being considered for command of the BEF--if there is a BEF--and now another vet is claiming that the reporters didn't get the Battle of Danskoi and the associated cavalry charge right--or even close.

"Way of the Lancer" by Richard Boleslavski might be worth a look-- not RCW, but just prior during the Kerensky period.