Serafimovich, A. The Iron Flood (Zheleznyy potok), 1938. In Russian.

Серафимович А. Железный поток. / Роман. Художник А. Щербаков.
Москва : Государственное издательство «Художественная литература» (ГИХЛ), 1938.
230 с. ; Уменьшенный формат (11х15 см). Твердый издательский переплет. Тираж 100 000 экз.
***
Serafimovich, Alexander. The Iron Flood. / Novel. Illustrated by A. Shcherbakov.
Moscow : State Publishing House "Khudozhestvennaya Literatura" (GIKhL), 1938.
230 pp. ; Small format (11x15 cm). Hardcover. Print run: 100,000 copies. In Russian.

This 1938 edition of The Iron Flood (Zheleznyy potok) marks a significant moment in the publishing history of Alexander Serafimovich’s most celebrated work. Originally written in 1924, this novel is considered a foundational text of Socialist Realism, vividly depicting the epic 1918 retreat of the Taman Red Army through the harsh landscapes of the North Caucasus. The narrative captures the raw transformation of a disorganized mass of refugees into a disciplined revolutionary force, an "iron flood" of human will. The text provides a deep dive into the internal logic of early Soviet collective heroism, including the arrangement of intense psychological portraits of the commander Kozhukh and the cinematic descriptions of the grueling mountain passage.
Produced by GIKhL during the height of the pre-war period, this pocket-sized (11x15 cm) hardcover was designed for the broad Soviet readership, yet it maintains high artistic standards with illustrations by A. Shcherbakov. Shcherbakov’s graphic work emphasizes the monumental scale of the events and the rugged determination of the soldiers and peasants. Despite a substantial print run of 100,000 copies, well-preserved examples from the 1930s—especially those in their original hardcover—are increasingly valued as primary sources of Soviet ideological and literary history. This edition reflects the canonization of the novel as a "classical" Soviet text, intended to be carried and read by a mobilized population on the eve of the Second World War.