Shortly after withdrawing from World War I Russia descended into a bitter civil war unprecedented for its savagery: epidemics battles mass executions forced labor and famine claimed millions of lives. From 1918 to 1921 through great cities and tiny villages across untouched forests and vast frozen wasteland the Bolshevik "Reds" fought the anti-Communist Whites and their Allies (fourteen foreign countries contributed weapons money and troops—including 20000 American soldiers). This landmark history re-creates the epic conflict that transformed Russia from the Empire of the Tsars into the Empire of the Commissars while never losing sight of the horrifying human cost.