A prequel to one of the great novels of the 20th century, Vasily Grossman’s 1960 book Life and Fate, finally appeared in English this year. Stalingrad is an epic novel, Tolstoyan in its proportions and ambition, about a Russian family’s struggles amid the Nazi march on Stalingrad in 1942. It is not quite as perfect as its sequel but stands out as a work of great immediacy and heart—an ideal historical novel for a new generation of readers.
Buy now: Stalingrad