Product Description

From September 1941 to January 1944, Leningrad was a city under seige from three German armies, with nearly three million people trapped inside. This book gives an account of one of the great dramas of World War II.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84803 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

Customer Reviews

A perhaps forgotten side of the German-Russian War
This book sets out to tell the story of the seige of Leningrad from the city dwellers themselves. Drawing on accounts from the city leaders, writers and playwrights it gives a real insight into the terrors that the population suffered. The book mainly concentrates on the winter of 1941-42, this being when the worst hardships were inflicted on the population, and does not spare the horror. Imagine trying to live on 200grams of bread a day ? In temperatures of thirty below freezing and with no electrical power ? It is a testament to the bravery of that city that they pulled through and continued life as normal as possible. The book also shows the political intrigue that surrounded any Soviet decision of Stalins reign - plotting, discrediting and murder where all part of the story and the epilogue is especially poignant in that the men who led the city in the 900 days were eliminated and their names wiped from the Soviet history books. My only complaint is that there are not enough maps showing the battle lines, making it difficult to imagine some of the battles, but that is only a minor complaint , this book is a must read on this terrible conflict alongside Beevor's Stalingrad.

An informative and gripping account of horror and heroism
This book provides a thorough and readable account of the build up to and the human consequences of the seige of Leningrad.It covers the military, polictical and social background to a subject which was closed to the West for so many years. The chapters on the human suffering and heroism are extremeely harrowing.The style of the book gives confidence of its authenticity and offers no judgements - allowing readers to draw their own conclusions.The book enables years of academic study to be accessible to all.

Thoroughly absorbing and horrifying
A thoroughly absorbing account of the privations suffered during this momentous part of WWII. It's remarkable that the author was able to gather so many accounts from ordinary people, given that it was written in the late 1960s when Brezhnev was reversing the moves towards openness introduced under Khrushchev. The book was officially criticised in the USSR as giving insufficient coverage to the role of the Communist Party in leading the besieged citizens' struggle. The only slight point of mild criticism of this great book might be the imbalance in coverage of the 900 days: the emphasis is almost all on the first winter of the siege when so many died of starvation, with the following two years covered very scantily.