This book follows on from And Quiet Flows the Don' and continues the story of Gregor Melekov and his family in the village of Tatarsk during the long period of unrest following WW1. It is a long book, sad and often cruel. Interspersed with the cruelty are wonderful descriptions of the Don countryside and beauty of the seasons. ( )

After enjoying the first book of the series, 'Quiet Flows the Don' I thought that I would tackle the next in the series which follows directly on from the first volume with the same characters and shows how their lives continue after the events of the first book. The earlier parts of the book are set against the backdrop of the Civil War and we get to see the effects of this traumatic period on the characters in the village. Later after a short peace a brutal repression by the Bolsheviks the Cossacks of the Don decide to revolt against their authority.

Whilst the love affair between Gregor and Aksinia is less intense and less exciting I actually found this book marginally more enjoyable than its predecessor. This is mainly because there are far fewer characters instead centring on Gregor and the wider Melekhov family circle whereas there was a far larger array of characters in thee first book which sometimes made it hard to follow what was happening and to whom.

Once again Sholokhov paints a wonderful vision of Cossack life on the steppes of Russia it is a hard and at times brutal life yet there is also laughter and joy. You can visualise their lives. Without wanting to give the ending away, like so many Russian novels there are no sugary happy endings here.But perhaps again what is most remarkable is that he was allowed to publish this book at all because it is hardly flattering to either side in the Civil War both sides were guilty of what today would be regarded as 'War crimes'. This is not an easy read but a worthwhile one. ( )