Taras Bulba – Nikolai Gogol

"I gave you life, and I will take it!"

Taras Bulba is an old Zaporozhian Cossack warrior. To harden his two sons, Ostap and Andriy, he takes them to the Sich to join the war against the Poles. The novel is a brutal, heroic epic of battles, sieges, and executions. When his son Andriy falls in love with a Polish girl and betrays his people, Taras faces a terrible choice between fatherhood and duty.

Gogol's historical novella is a romantic glorification of the Cossack spirit. It is a story of fierce loyalty, nationalism, and the savage code of honor of the steppe.