Yashka

A peasant woman's autobiography recounts her harsh childhood and early marriage, exile and escape, and her decision to join the army during the war. She describes front-line combat, wounds and paralysis, brief captivity, and the tumult of revolution among soldiers. Determined to discipline and inspire, she organizes an all-female fighting unit and confronts committee rule, political leaders, and the rise of Bolshevism. The narrative follows subsequent missions, narrow survivals, and reflections on faith, courage, and the contradictions of a nation in upheaval, combining personal confession with vivid accounts of military and political turmoil.