Passing Stranger is a historical novel about Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninoff, a colonel in the Czar's Imperial Army. Being dissatisfied with the life of serfdom Russia, he and his wife emigrate to the United States six years before the Civil War. At the outbreak of the war, Ivan, now John Basil Turchin, joins the Union Army and valiantly serves under President Abraham Lincoln, a man he greatly admires. The intrigues of parlor discussions provide settings for the emotions and feelings of the people who lived through the horrors of the conflict and provides a human touch to a momentous event in United States history. Through Turchin's eyes and ears, we see an unfolding of our nation's history in a very personal and profound manner. This novel provides an unusual perspective on the Civil War through one who played a decisive role in the conflict.