Die Reiterarmee

In the years 1920/1921, the Jewish writer Isaak Babel, originally from Odessa, joined the notorious cavalry of the Red Army in the Polish-Soviet War. He was to report on the events as a correspondent. His cycle of stories "The Red Cavalry," published in 1926 based on his diary, made him an enemy of the new Soviet power due to its unflinching portrayal; Babel was executed in 1940. By combining extreme formal rigor with expressionistic imagery, Isaak Babel created a new literary form of expression. On the occasion of Babel's 100th birthday, Peter Urban presented a new translation that conveys the complete, uncensored text for the first time. The book includes the stories and, in the appendix, tales from the circle of "The Red Cavalry," as well as previously unpublished journalistic works by Isaak Babel from "The Red Cavalryman," sketches, and drafts.