Russia. Pamfil Nazarov, a peasant owned by the crown, is conscripted. He is one of only two Russian privates to have written accounts. In his memoirs, he provides an unparalleled picture of Russian military service from a grassroots perspective. In Russia, family groups are called up, not individuals. It is a sad custom for heads of families to send their brothers or nephews in place of their own children. Moscow falls to the enemy just as he is being conscripted. Pamfil feels no patriotic sentiment, only a dull desperation and terror of the unknown. He is guided by strength of spirit and resignation, prayer and obedience to God’s will. The medical examination consists of a declaration of good health and a quick dental check, then his head is shaved. The trauma of the foreign world makes him ill, and during his hospital stay all his money and clothes are stolen. Then he gets punched in the face by a non-commissioned officer and beaten for a gunpowder mix-up. Pamfil is wounded in Leipzig and is fortunate enough to return home on leave three times. Then, after 23 years of military service (!), during which he learns to read and write, he becomes a monk and writes his memoirs. One of two to do so.
