The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Grossman, Vasily. Life and Fate. New York Review Books, 2006.

Life and Fate is an expansive novel divided into three parts. Each part consists of roughly 60 chapters. The novel follows the lives of a multitude of characters during the battle of Stalingrad in 1942, focusing on the Shaposhnikov family, whose members participate in the war effort and in Russian society in many different capacities.

Part one of the novel describes the setting of the German prisoner camp, as the narrator follows the life of one if its inmates, Mostovskoy, an old Bolshevik. Later a Russian prisoner camp is described, focusing on Abarchuk, Lyudmila’s ex-husband.

Part one describes the circumstances of various members of the army who occupy varying positions across the military hierarchy in Stalingrad. There is a noticeable disparity between lower-ranking officers such as Byerozkin and Krylov, and their superiors, such as Zakharov and Yeremenko, both in exposure to danger and in material comforts. It is in this time that Krymov is introduced in his capacity as a political lecturer. Other aspects of the battle of Stalingrad, such as Grekov’s leadership of the encircled 6/1 house, are described in this part as well.

Part one introduces to Viktor’s family and their living circumstances as they have been evacuated to Kazan from Moscow. Viktor receives a harrowing letter from his mother, the last that she sends him before dying in a concentration camp. Viktor’s wife Lyudmila also receives a letter outlining her son, Tolya’s, convalescence in a hospital after being wounded in the war. She goes to visit him, but finds that he has died after surgery.

Part one describes Lyudmila’s sister, Yevgenia, who is living in Kuibyshev and struggles to gain a residence permit through the local bureaucracy. Despite the attention given her by her male friends, she longs for her two loves, Krymov and Novikov.

Other characters and settings introduced in this part include Sofya Osipovna, who is put on a train with other Jews being sent to a concentration camp, Novikov and Getmanov, who command a tank corps, and Viktorov, a pilot in the air force, and Vera’s lover, and also the milieu of the Central Power Station in Stalingrad, where Spiridonov and Andreyev are stationed with Vera.

Part two begins with the struggles that Viktor is having with his scientific research. After engaging in politically risky conversation at Sokolov’s house in Kazan, he finds the inspiration to make a breakthrough in his work. During this time Viktor’s family returns to Moscow, and he begins to face censorship and ostracism at the Scientific Institute. Meanwhile both Lyudmila and Viktor lose interest in their marriage.

Part two also describes further Mostovskoy’s life in the German prison. His faith in his political ideals are shaken by the SS officer, Liss, who tries to persuade him of the similarities between his own Bolshevism and Hitlerism. Meanwhile, Mostovskoy and his fellow inmates plan an insurrection, which ultimately fails and leads to their execution.

In part two, Krymov is sent to the 6/1 house in an attempt to bring it back into communication with headquarters. Grekov shoots Krymov in order to maintain their freedom from military command. Krymov is carried back to headquarters and hospitalized. The fate of the 6/1 house is decided when it is utterly destroyed by the Germans. After he recovers, Krymov becomes discontent with the direction of the party. He visits Spiridonov, with whom he reminisces about Lenin’s funeral. Later in this part, Spiridonov abandons his post at the Central Power Station, and his daughter, Vera, gives birth to a boy. The father, Viktorov, however, is shot down in his plane and dies behind enemy lines.

Part two contains the deaths of Sofya Osipovna and David, who arrive at the concentration camp and are quickly sent to the gas chamber. During this section of the novel, the narrator also focuses on some of the members of the Nazi organization who oversee and operate the gas chambers.

Part three continues to describe Viktor’s relations with the Scientific Institute. He chooses not to repent for the dissidence of which he is accused, and this leads to his social ostracism. Suddenly he is catapulted into success and admiration when Stalin begins to support his work for its potential in developing nuclear weaponry. Viktor becomes part of the Stalinist state machine, despite having once despised it. His moral defeat occurs when he is coerced to sign a letter that serves as a piece of state propaganda. He continues to grow distanced from his wife, and he is never able to realize his love for Marya Ivanovna.

Part three describes the beginning of the Russian offensive in Stalingrad. Novikov’s tank corps plays a key role in breaking through the frontline. After their success in Stalingrad, Novikov faces pressure to accelerate their advance into Ukraine despite the dangers that it entails for their soldiers. During this time, Novikov is motivated by his desire for glory, bureaucratic pressure, and his love for Yevgenia.

During this time, Yevgenia determines that it is Krymov whom she really loves. She writes to Novikov, expressing her love for Krymov. Krymov, meanwhile, has been imprisoned and interrogated on the suspicion that he is a traitor. Krymov’s life in the Lubyanka prison is described. He is interrogated and mercilessly beaten, yet he does not confess and he maintains his belief that Yevgenia did not denounce him, despite her knowledge of information used against Krymov during interrogation. Krymov receives a package from Yevgenia, which causes him to break down crying.

The aftermath of Stalingrad is described in depth as the citizens return to the city. It is depicted as a bittersweet moment, as the ideals for which the battle of Stalingrad stood fail to leave a lasting impression on the life of the city and its inhabitants. Amid this event, Spiridonov has been demoted from his position at the Central Power Station for abandoning his post during the final hours of the battle. He is reassigned to the Urals, where he plans to take Vera and begin a new life.