A Russian Journal, published by John Steinbeck in April 1948,[1] is an eyewitness account of his travels through the Soviet Union during the early years of the Cold War era.

Accompanied by the distinguished war photographer Robert Capa, Steinbeck set out with the intent to record the real attitudes and modes of existence of people living under Soviet rule.

As Steinbeck explained it, the book's goal was "honest reporting, to set down what we saw and heard without editorial comment, without drawing conclusions about things we didn't know sufficiently."

Without diminishing the authoritarian nature of the Soviet Union, Steinbeck claimed that the main fear held by average Russians was not of Stalin but another World War.

If six million people were killed, not counting soldiers, fifteen per cent of the population, you would have an idea of the casualties of the Ukraine.