Notes of a Soldier Without Shoulder Straps

The book “Notes of a Man Without Stirrups” is being published for the first time. It is about the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, in which S. M. Golitsyn—a surveyor and writer who became a military builder—took part beginning in July 1941. He built defensive structures, bridges, railroads and highways under Moscow, Voronezh, Stalingrad, Chernihiv, and Bobruisk, in Poland and Germany. After the war ended, he helped restore Warsaw and Gomel. He was demobilized at the end of 1946.

He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, medals “For the Defense of Moscow,” “For Combat Service,” and “For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War.” He did not have an officer’s rank.

“Notes of a Man Without Stirrups” is a special book. It is a truthful chronicle of four years of war with detailed descriptions of events in which the author—a strictly civilian, 32-year-old father of a family—was a participant. The war is shown with all its horrors, senselessness, grim everyday life, and small human joys, along with its grueling labor…

The writer, prince Sergey Golitsyn (1909–1989), is well known for wonderful children’s works, and his book “Tale of the Russian Land” has been reissued many times and is included in the school curriculum. The “Notes of a Man Without Stirrups” offered to the reader—Sergey’s latest creation—is a book about the Great Patriotic War. The author, a military surveyor, passed through fiery paths from Kovrov to the defeated Reichstag. Written sincerely, in magnificent Russian, with love for friends and fellow servicemen. Broad horizons, attentiveness, and the talent of a storyteller will, in our view, place this memoir deservedly among the best works of Russian literature “about courage, about feats, about glory.”