The Grinding Mill, first published in 1935, is the exciting autobiographical account of the author's experiences in the heady times of Europe and Russia from 1913 to 1920, encompassing both World War I and the early chaotic days of the Russian Revolution. Author and nobleman Lobanov-Rostovsky provides a detailed account of his life as a soldier during the war, and then his difficulties as a member of the military and nobility as the communists begin their sweep across Russia. He managed to escape, first to the forces of the White Russians, and later to the safety of France. Eventually, he completes his studies in Paris and made his way to America, where he would go on to have a long and distinguished career at the University of Michigan. Lobanov-Rostovsky died in 1979 at the age of 86.
