Vasili Tyorkin: A Book about a Soldier by Alexander Tvardovsky Abigail Parry These ‘books’ gather poems in

These ‘books’ gather poems in different metres and concentrate on specific themes

This substantial volume is a tribute to the maturing voice of an essential poet

focus on its vivid lyricism and the surprisingly riddling nature of its philosophy

and what we are compelled by

Arbella Stuart

Vasili Tyorkin: A Book about a Soldier by Alexander Tvardovsky Abigail Parry These ‘books’ gather poems inVasili Tyorkin: A Book about a Soldier is one of the great epic poems of the Second World War. Published in army newspapers and broadcast on the radio between 1942 and 1945, it was hugely popular with Soviet soldiers, many of whom believed it was about a real person was real. Private Tyorkin is an accordion playing Everyman figure, who moves between comedy and reluctant heroism. He is a cheerful grumbler always on the lookout for food and a quick kip,