Taras Bulba
by Nikolai Gogol
"Taras Bulba" is a wonderful story depicting the life of Ukrainian Kazakhs who lived near the Dnieper in the sixteenth century. Taras Bulba is an old and hardened fighter who feels a bit rusty due to his lack of action. When his two sons return from school in Kiev, he willingly takes them to the "setch" of the Cossacks, camp and training island. There they spend their time drinking and remembering the old glory. However, the Cossacks are experiencing a difficult truce with Turkish hegemons and Tatar horsemen. Taras Bulba, always a servant, harane to the Cossacks, initiates a change of leadership, directs them to an offensive against the Poles-Catholics. The Cossacks go to the West and destroy everything they encounter with extreme cruelty. Eventually, they besieged the walled city, but Taras' youngest son, Andrei, discovers that the woman he loves is inside. An ingenious and brutal war horror story.
