Virgin Soil Upturned

Mikhail Sholokhov · 1905–1984 · Russia

Originally Поднятая целина (Russian)

Why it matters

A Cossack village is forced through violent collectivization by an outside Communist organizer who believes wholly in the cause. Sholokhov's other major epic, prized in the Soviet Union and still read as a document of the era's upheaval.

At a glance

A large cast of village characters across a straightforward chronological plot.