Nearing the end of the Russian Civil War, a large portion of the White Army, along with some of their families and other emigres, evacuated to Greek-occupied Gallipoli, taking with them the very soul of Russia, desperately hoping to see her in a new dawn. Among them was author Ivan Lukash, who penned the following collection of musings and observations during this time in Gallipoli from 1920 to 1921. Bare Fields paints a vivid image of their camps, from the bustle of the mornings to the late-night outings of both soldiers and locals, sprinkled with an abundance of anecdotes from such famed men as Pyotr Wrangel, Anton Turkul, Vladimir Manstein, and Alexander Kutepov.
An overarching theme to the book can be illustrated with the following question: What will a Russian man do when he is deprived of everything-his homeland, his wealth, his family, when nothing remains but the dry, gray landscape of a once beautiful city, now turned into Russia's foreign cemetery of ashes? As hope persists among some while others fall to despair, Lukash beautifully captures the varied answers to this unasked question in a way that is deeply insightful and surprisingly timeless.
Antelope Hill Publishing is proud to present this first English translation of Bare Fields: The Russians in Gallipoli, 1920-21 by Ivan Lukash, translated by Elevenfortyseven, a delicate yet powerful testament to the Russian will. In the words of Lieutenant Misha, as recorded by Lukash, "We have become the living idea of Russia, and if she is alive, we are not dead either, because we carry Russia in us like the sun. And that is why everyone here has a burning soul."
