The BBC has just begun an eight-hour dramatisation of the epic Russian novel Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. This epic masterpiece, centred around the bloody battle of Stalingrad, charts the fate of both a nation and a family in the turmoil of war. Completed in 1960, the novel was deemed so dangerous by the KGB that the book itself was arrested!

Kenneth Branagh and David Tennant star in this Radio 4 production, with the thirteen episodes being broadcast from 18 to 25 September. All the episodes will be available to download as podcasts.

The dramatisation is also supported by a dedicated page on the BBC programme website that includes a blog with background information and comment on the production; a pdf of the family tree; short videos of Kenneth Branagh and David Tennant talking about their roles and the art of radio drama; links to related programmes, including Andrew Marr discussing the life and work of Vasily Grossman recorded at an event in Oxford; clips from the Oxford event in which producers, historians and contributors discussed the dramatisation, the book and its significance today; and Elliot Levey reading Vasily Grossman’s front line despatches from the battle of Stalingrad.

Details of all the broadcasts are available to BUFVC members vi TRILT, and copies of the programmes are available to subscribers via the Off-air recording Back-up Service and BoB National.