This novel is the first part of the Ukrainian Trilogy of Polish poet and novelist Józef Lobodowski. Written between 1955 and 1960, the action of the trilogy plays out, for the most part, in the Kuban areas of Russia. Here Ukrainian, Russian, and Cossack live alongside and interact with Tatar and Circassian; there was also a large influx of other nationalities subject to the Tsar, such as Armenians and Poles — to which latter nation belongs Stas (Stanislaw), the main character of the trilogy.

The Thickets presents the reader with a vivid picture of the chaos that reigned in the former Russian Empire following the toppling and execution of the Tsar, and the fall of Kerensky’s government. Young Stas, who had studied at the local classical gymnasium, is now reduced to peddling contraband on the black market, discovers to the reader’s eyes the chaos of war and occupation in an especially visceral way.