An edition from the "Old School" series. Printed in 12pt type with wide line spacing for maximum readability. Unabridged. Modern translation. The publication is supplemented with an annotation that examines ten interesting facts about Leonid Andreyev.
This is a surreal parable about the insane horrors of war. The novella describes the horrors of war through the perception of two brothers - an officer returning from the front and his brother, a writer. War is presented not as a heroic battle, but as a senseless bloody slaughter that drives people mad and gives birth to the phantom of 'Red Laugh' - a symbol of universal insanity and cruelty.
The protagonists struggle to maintain their sanity in a world where the lines between reality and nightmare are blurred, and blood soaks everything. In the finale, madness engulfs the home front as well, becoming a global catastrophe from which there is no escape.