Mansur Abdulin (1923-2007) wrote a detailed account of his experiences as a Red Army infantry Red Army soldier. Abdulin recounted combat scenes, vivid descriptions of combat carnage, and heroism. Abdulin's book has amusing anecdotes of humor and wit. The book also describes the ferocity and then kindness of Red Army troops.Abdulin started his book with brief accounts of his childhood. His father was a Communist Party member, and his father had a sense of "fair play" and self respect. Abdulin recounts that his father warned him that if he ever heard Abdulin use obscene language, the father would give Abdulin a beating Abdulin would never forget. When Abdulin got a job ushering horses in a gold mine, the horses refused his commands. He heard other miners use profanity to get horses to cooperate, so Abdulin used the same language. His father worked in the same mine and overheard Abdulin cursing at the horses. Abdulin remarked that his father simply smiled and continued working.When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 (Operation Barbarossa), Abdulin volunteered for the Red Army. A commanding officer suggested Abdulin become a adjutant rather than an infantry soldier. As Abdulin recounted, he told the officer he was from Siberia and could shoot better than polish officers' boots. Then, Abdulin become a mortar gunner and rifleman.As one may expect, the comradeship among Red Army soldiers close. Abdulin recounted his younger days when he shot game and wondered if he could shoot enemy soldiers who were human. However witnessing the death of his comrades, Abdulin had not compunction of shooting at Germans remembered shooting his first German enemy. Abdulin recounted events when he and his comrades showed rare courage such as going into burning tanks and rescuing tank troops. This was dangerous due to the fact that a burning tank would explode in a few minutes.Another courageous act occurred when Abdulin and his comrades were ambused, and he did not have his gun. Abdulin jumped into a German trench that was abandoned and used German grenades and guns to save himself and his comrades. As Abdulin clearly stated, discipline in the Red Army was severe. One of Abdulin's comrades got a German pistol and accidentally shot himself in the hand. Had this been reported to officers, the poor fellow would have been faced a tribunal and shot for a self inflicted wound. Abdulin & co. concealed the incident, and the comrade recovered.Abdulin described the combat scenes and the carnage. He related that a Siberian truck driver took Abdulin to get ammunition and drove over a "bumpy" road. When Abdulin asked about the "bumpy" road, the driver said they were driving over the remains of dead soldiers which horrified Abdulin. When Red Army troops attacked "Death Island" on the Dnieper River, they suffered terrible losses and did not know that their attack was a diversion. Yet, when Abdulin emerged blackened by black sand, behind German lines, the German troops panicked and fled which was an unexpected victory.Some of the unexpected anecdotes included an academic who took intitiave when Abdulin's men could not dislodge a German machine gun nest. The academic crawled through "no man's land" and got close enough to the nest with grenades to dislodge the Germans. The academic was criticized for such reckless action and then praised for it. When Abdulin was promoted and his unit got the Guards designation which was a high honor in the Red Army, and when he was promoted to Komsolmo, he was warned that as a leader he might survive two or three attacks. His commanding officer said these men had short life expectancy and the commanding officer would understand if Abdulin declined the promotion. Abdulin accepted the :"promotion," and he showed his courage before and thereafter.When Abdulin described horrid German massacres and abuses of women during the German retreat, these outrages simply infuriated Red Army troops. Yet, a young German kid who was in German army band was captured. Due to the lad's youth and innocence, Red Army troops showed compassion and fed the poor kid. The German situation was such that Hitler ordered inexperienced German army band members into combat. Occasionally, the ferocity of war showed rare compassion.Abdulin remember his first "kill" and his last two "kills." He was wounded and sent to a make-shift medical unit where he had shrapnel removed from his buttocks. He had no anesthesia and was told not to move. The amusing anecdotes of the Red Army wounded troops flirting with the young nurses led to humor. The nurses proved to be compassionate and competent. Abdulin regretted that because he had to rest on his stomach, he regretted he could see these pretty young nurses. Flirtation was muted when older nurses replaced some of the younger nurses. Abdulin recounted that he almost fell in love with two of these young ladies. One could conclude that Abdulin "took a turn for the nurse." (pun).Abdulin was demobilized and eventually sent home. He survived the Battle of Stalingrad and combat leading to Stalingrad as well as post Stalingrad combat. He survived rare acts of courage and danger. He was told he was born under "a lucky star." While Abdulin regretted the loss of comrades and close friends, he also remembered who survived the Russian Front. Abdulin had enough respect not to steal from dead German troops and had a superstition that those who would die prematurely in combat. As Abdulin wrote, war can bring out the best and the worst in people.Abdulin's RED ROAD FROM STALINGRAD is a good descriptive account of the terrible carnage on the Russian Front during WW II. Abdulin's book gives vivid descriptions of carnage and death in actual total war. Abdulin was clear that war is not the fantasy world of arm chair patriots who glorify war but never enlist to take the risks. While this book praised the Red Army, the thoughtfulness and comments could make this an anti-war book. The only criticism of the book is that the index could be more comprehensive. The book is well worth reading.James E. EgolfJuly 19, 2016