A Russian Journal

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Steinbeck and Capa’s account of their journey through Cold War Russia is a classic piece of reportage and travel writing. Just after the Iron Curtain fell on Eastern Europe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Steinbeck and acclaimed war photographer Robert Capa ventured into the Soviet Union to report for the New York Herald Tribune. This rare opportunity took them to Moscow, Stalingrad (now Volgograd), and through the Ukrainian countryside and the Caucasus. Hailed by the New York Times as "superb" upon its 1948 release, this work distills their experiences into a remarkable memoir and unique historical document. Steinbeck and Capa captured what he termed "the great other side there … the private life of the Russian people," free from the ideological obsessions typical of Western reporting at the time. They documented the grim realities faced by factory workers, government clerks, and peasants emerging from World War II's devastation, illustrated by Capa’s stirring photographs alongside Steinbeck’s masterful prose. This edition includes an introduction by Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw, showcasing two artists at the height of their powers, driven by the need to document human struggle. For over seventy years, Penguin has been a leading publisher of classic literature, offering authoritative texts enhanced by scholarly introductions and notes.