Train to Samarkand

The novel “Train to Samarkand” recounts a dramatic period in Russian history in the early 1920s, when the country was confronted with famine and devastation in the wake of the Civil War. At the heart of the story is a train carrying orphaned children, departing from the starving Volga region for Samarkand under the command of food-detachment head Deyev. The journey across the country becomes a test not only of physical endurance, but also of each character’s humanity.