Taras Bulba

The pearl of Gogol’s Little Russian novels, is a historical novel, Taras Bulba, which recalls to life one of the most interesting periods in the history of Little Russia–the fifteen century. Constantinople had fallen into the hands of the Turks; and although a mighty Polish-Lithuanian state had grown in the West, the Turks, nevertheless, menaced both Eastern and Middle Europe. Then it was the Little Russians rose for the defense of Russia and Europe. The hero of the novel is an old Cossack, Taras Bulba, who has himself spent many years in the Secha, but is now peacefully settled inland on his farm. His two sons have been educated in the Academy of Kiev and return home after several years of absence. On the very next day after their arrival, without letting the mother enjoy the sight of her sons, Taras takes them to the Secha, which– as often happened in those times– was going to begin war, in consequence of the exactions which the Polish landlords made upon the Little Russians. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-1852) wrote his epic Taras Bulba over a period, broken by intervals, of more than nine years: from 1833 to 1842. The profound ideological message of the tale, its thrilling and truthful characters, Gogol’s colorful portrayal of the people’s life, have immortalized Gogol’s epic.