# Two Steps from Heaven

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{{short description|1997 novel by Mikhail Evstafiev}}
:''See also [an album](/source/Two_Steps_from_Heaven_(album)) by Two Steps from Hell''
{{infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject Books -->
| name          = Two Steps From Heaven
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = <!--prefer 1st edition-->
| caption = 
| author        = [Mikhail Evstafiev](/source/Mikhail_Evstafiev)
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = [Russia](/source/Russia)
| language      = [Russian](/source/Russian_language)
| series        = 
| genre         = 
| publisher     = [Eksmo](/source/Eksmo)
| release_date  = 1997, 2006
| english_release_date =
| media_type    = Print ([Hardback](/source/Hardcover) & [Paperback](/source/Paperback))
| pages         = 
| isbn          = 
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}}
'''''Two Steps From Heaven''''' is a novel by [Russia](/source/Russia)n author [Mikhail Evstafiev](/source/Mikhail_Evstafiev).

==Plot summary==

The events of the [novel](/source/novel) ''<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/29/world/asia/afghanistan-graveyard-empires-historical-pictures.html?mcubz=3 | work = [New York Times](/source/New_York_Times) | title =  The Empire Stopper, By Rod Nordland, August 29, 2017}}</ref>'' take place in the mid-1980s during the [Soviet invasion of Afghanistan](/source/Soviet_invasion_of_Afghanistan) and soon after the troop withdrawal, back in the then [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union). It is a stirring account of the trials of Lieutenant Oleg Sharagin, a [platoon](/source/platoon) commander in the elite Soviet [airborne forces](/source/airborne_forces), his fellow [officer](/source/Officer_(armed_forces))s and [soldier](/source/soldier)s. It also portrays the ordinary [Afghan](/source/Afghanistan)s who suffered enormously under the Soviet occupation.

Sharagin survives many combat operations but is critically wounded just a few months before the end of his tour of duty when his platoon is [ambush](/source/ambush)ed in the course of a major offensive against the [Mujahideen](/source/Mujahideen). He is evacuated to a hospital in [Kabul](/source/Kabul), undergoes surgery, and finally finds himself reunited with his family. But back home he realizes his military career is over. The war haunts Sharagin and the pain caused by the wound turns his life into a [nightmare](/source/nightmare), leading to a dramatic finale.

The novel is a good example of Russian "accurate fiction." It puts a human face on the Soviet soldier without sparing the gory details, like the hard to comprehend top-down authority and license for physical punishment and humiliation within the Russian army, the mental suffering which young soldiers and officers endured during their catastrophic experience in Afghanistan, or the gruesome killings of innocent Afghan civilians.

The novel first came out in Russian in 1997 in an [abridged](/source/abridged) version. In 2006, it was published by [Eksmo](/source/Eksmo), one of the largest [publishing house](/source/publishing_house)s in Russia.

The [Russian](/source/Russian_language) and [English](/source/English_language) versions can also be found on "Art of War" ''<ref>{{cite web|url =http://artofwar.ru/e/english/|title = Art of War}}</ref>'', a project dedicated to the soldiers of the recent wars, which was created in 1998 by a Russian [veteran](/source/veteran) of the Afghan war, Vladimir Grigoriev. It features short stories, novels, [poetry](/source/poetry) and [essay](/source/essay)s by veterans of the wars in [Afghanistan](/source/Afghanistan) and [Chechnya](/source/Chechnya), as well as in the [Middle East](/source/Middle_East), [Nagorno-Karabakh](/source/Nagorno-Karabakh), [Yugoslavia](/source/Yugoslavia) and contributions from veterans of the [Vietnam](/source/Vietnam_War) and [Korea](/source/Korean_War) wars.

==References==
<references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Two Steps From Heaven}}
Category:Russian historical novels
Category:1997 Russian novels
Category:Novels set in Afghanistan
Category:Novels set in the Soviet Union
Category:Novels set in the 1980s
Category:Soviet–Afghan War fiction
Category:Eksmo books

{{1990s-hist-novel-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Two Steps from Heaven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Steps_from_Heaven) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Steps_from_Heaven?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.