The Bare Field: A Book About Gallipoli

The documentary story “The Bare Field. A Book about Gallipoli” was written in the summer of 1921 and is devoted to “the Gallipoli stand” of the White Army.

After evacuating from Crimea to Turkey, the Whites found themselves among a scattered crowd of refugees—suffering both morally and physically—who had only one choice left: to scatter across the whole world forever, sealing the end of the White cause. However, under the leadership of General Kutepov, in an atmosphere of ruthless discipline, hungry, cold, impoverished refugees transformed again into a full-fledged White Army, ready to march at any moment.

In the book by Ivan Lukas h, a direct participant in the events, he describes this marvelous transformation “in the valley of death and roses”—the valley of poverty and despair—turning bitter defeat into a great moral victory of the Russian spirit.

The book is written in a beautiful poetic language. This is a genuine White Guards’ poem—poetry in prose.