We hear a lot about the world’s direction-setters, and about those around them who clamor for influence. But lived human history plays out humbly, mostly at ground level, sometimes literally in the trenches.

Today, Dominique Soguel reports on the rise of wartime literature in Ukraine. Warriors’ undiluted words, whether in poetry or prose, can offer powerful authenticity. They might also help preserve an identity that some would erase.

“Who will speak when the guns fall silent?” asks one Ukrainian soldier. “Whose voices will continue to be heard?”