The Horrors of War: Leonid Andreyev’s “The Red Laugh” (1904)

Combat at the Dalinsky Pass. 21st East Siberian Rifle Regimen

Leonid Andreyev's "The Red Laugh" appeared a decade before the outbreak of World War I, but its unsparing portrait of the psychological effects of warfare seems almost like a warning to the traumatic century that was just beginning. In "The Red Laugh", Andreyev writes of an ordinary individual soldier who descends into madness, exploring how war affects both those who fight and those who are left behind.

Advertisement

Just the Facts?: “Ryszard Kapuściński: A Life”, by Artur Domosławski (Review)

Ryszard Kapuściński (1932-2007) overcame humble beginnings and a war-torn childhood to become the most famous journalist of the 20th century, covering revolutions from around the globe and creating a form of literary journalism all his own. In this biography, Artur Domosławski sets out on a quest to disentangle fact from fiction, and the man from the myth.