A faraway counterinsurgency fight. Trying terrain. Elusive intelligence. Self-deceiving higher headquarters. And those caught in the middle of it all. These are the ingredients of what one venerable critic called “the best story in the world.” The novel is Hadji Murat, and its author is Leo Tolstoy.
This is episode 4 of the MWI Book Club, a podcast based on the idea that a military that reads books is a military that wins wars. Join cohosts Theo Lipsky and John Amble as they break down the events and meaning of Hadji Murat, and en route mark the lessons to be learned about soldiering.
The book’s plot follows a Chechen guerrilla named Hadji Murat during Russia’s Caucasian War of the mid-nineteenth century. A rival Chechen has taken his family hostage and so he goes to the tsar’s army for help. The officers of that army and the tsar himself must decide what to do. The ensuing story reads as fresh as if it happened today, in part because Tolstoy himself was a veteran of the Caucasian War. The truths it reveals of war are likewise evergreen.
Have you read Hadji Murat? Know much about this wonderful novella and its storied author? Don’t hesitate to let us know what you think or what books you’d like us to read next. Reach out at john.amble@westpoint.edu or theodore.lipsky@westpoint.edu.
You can listen to the full episode below or find it on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. While you’re there be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss November’s episode, featuring a discussion about Katrina Manson’s Project Maven, or December’s episode, in which John and Theo explore John Steinbeck’s World War II novel The Moon Is Down. And if you’ve enjoyed the first four episodes of the MWI Book Club, please leave a rating or give it a review!
