This is a magnificent work about the infamous siege of the Soviet Union's second city, cradle of the revolution, by Nazi forces for a period of nearly two and a half years. The most famous part of the siege was the bitter winter of 1941-42 when hundreds of thousands of Leningraders died of starvation or cold as the rations became more and more meagre (at the lowest, 125g of bread a day for children and other dependants) and sources of fuel to burn for heat were used up. There were also deaths from German shelling, though many fewer; and the repressive forces of the Soviet state only marginally abated their activities (e.g. arrests of citizens who made too much of a fuss about the privations, or even were just found to have recorded them in their diaries and told a "friend" who then informed on them). The book tells of this suffering through eyewitness accounts of survivors, many of whom the author herself interviewed. The author also puts the siege in the context of the mistakes that prevented adequate evacuation as the German circle closed in on the city throughout the summer. It also exposes the myths that have grown up around the siege, in particular the post-war myth of one dimensional heroism and resistance; in reality, like all such desperate situations, it brought out both the best and worst of human nature as people's horizons grew narrower and narrower around the primal struggle to find food and warmth for oneself and one's immediate family (though in a few cases individuals are recorded as having snatched food from family members).

The situation was eased as the winter continued through the famous "Road of Life" across the frozen Lake Ladoga, along which evacuees could escape and food come in, though even there, terrible mistakes were made and people lost their lives even while escaping. To be fair, lessons were learned throughout 1942 in terms of growing more food and evacuating even more people, such that the subsequent siege winters were nowhere near as bad. Liberation eventually came in early 1944 as the Nazis were in retreat across Europe.

Despite the vast suffering, we should all be grateful nevertheless that Leningrad did not fall. Hitler had vowed to wipe it and its inhabitants off the map. Instead, it became the first city in all Europe that Hitler failed to take, and, as the author records, its fall would have "given him the Soviet Union’s biggest arms manufacturies, shipyards and steelworks, linked his armies with Finland’s, and allowed him to cut the railway lines carrying Allied aid from the Arctic ports of Archangel and Murmansk", thus dramatically increasing the odds on an Axis victory. ( )

A comprehensive but not overlong history of the siege that dispels some of the Soviet era myths. ( )

After reading The Siege by Helen Dunmore, I decided I needed a refresher course on what the Siege of Leningrad was actually all about, and how it slotted in to my general knowledge of WWII. So. This one was recommended to me, and I finally grabbed it at the library.

It is a heavily researched book. It draws from all the usual suspects to compile the chronological account of the siege and some relatively recently uncovered diaries provide a very personal account which you get the feeling other historical accounts would not have. In this sense it does a great job of knitting together the historical facts with what it was actually like for those living it.

The needless slow and agonising deaths from starvation are terrible to read about, as are the corruption and brutality that exacerbated it all. Surprises for me were coverage of the cover ups that occurred straight afterwards. The Soviets re-wrote history to focus on the camaraderie rather than the cannibalism, in-fighting and personal violence and theft that naturally occurred in such dire circumstances. This account is well done and covers a lot. I feel the coverage was biased towards the first winter, when mass deaths occurred, and the other end of siege life was not
recorded as faithfully. ( )

This was a powerful book. The siege of Leningrad is NOT Stalingrad, just for the record. This book shows the siege of Leningrad through the eyes of diarist and some interviews. There's one German soldier whose diary gives a peek at what it was like outside the siege ring. I had to take this book in short reading sessions. The book is depressing from page one. Families are destroyed; loved ones become emaciated zombies; people become subhuman. Packs of "men" form to hunt other humans for their flesh. These aren't made-up stories. They are all dutifully chronicled by those who were there, many who didn't survive. That Leningraders didn't rise up against the Soviet government is amazing. Hitler was depending on it, and really one would expect an uprising at such an arrogant, inept, brutal government. Reid spends some time on why they did not, and it's an interesting perspective on things. Leningrad suffered a second siege after the Germans left, carried out by their own paranoid leaders. You really must read this book, if only to understand what people can endure and what evil people can visit upon one another. ( )

Well written and interesting. She writes in a manner that puts the reader in place and in the shoes of her subjects. ( )