Isaac Babel

Isaac Babel (1894–1940) - In 1920, he served as a war correspondent with the Red Cavalry during the Russo-Polish War, an experience that provided the raw material for his most famous collection. Major Works: Red Cavalry (1926): A collection of stories detailing the brutal reality of war, and Odessa Stories (1931): Vivid tales featuring the legendary Jewish gangster Benya Krik.  As Stalin’s purges intensified, Babel was arrested by the NKVD in May 1939 on fabricated charges of espionage and terrorism. He was executed by firing squad in 1940. See also Rachel Rubin’s comments on Babel in her Jewish Gangsters of Modern Literature (Jewish Crime Non-Fiction bibliography, p.222).

Babel, Isaac, (Benya Krik, the Gangster [hc, Schocken, 1948, B0007DKUY6, transl. from the Russian by Avrahm Yarmolinsky])

Babel, Isaac, (Odessa Stories [pb, Pushkin Press, 2019, trans. from the Russian by Boris Dralyuk]) 978-1782274735 [See related film]