Taras Bulba and Other Tales

Translated by C. J. Hogarth. Introduction By John Cournos.

Taras Bulba is a romanticized short historical novel by Nikolai
Gogol. It tells the story of an old Zaporozhian Cossack, Taras
Bulba, and his two sons, Andriy and Ostap. Taras’ sons studied at the
Kyiv Academy and return home. The three men set out on a journey to Zaporizhian
Sich located in Ukraine, where they join other Cossacks and go to war against
the Polish nobles.

Taras Bulba is Gogol’s longest short story. The work is classical in nature
with characters that are not exaggerated or grotesque as was common in Gogol's
later work, though his characterizations of Cossacks are said to be a bit
exaggerated by some scholars. This story can be understood in the context of the
romantic nationalism movement in literature, which developed around a historical
ethnic culture which meets the romantic ideal. It has been cited as the seminal
work establishing the concept of the "Russian Soul". The story is
rich in adventure and battle scenes as well as touches of Gogol’s characteristic
humor.

— Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.