The Unwomanly Face of War

 I recently read "The Unwomanly Face of War" by Svetlana Alexeivich:

Apologies for the appalling book cover photo! It didn't translate to blogger very well.

For some reason I was expecting a memoir by a female sniper, but instead the book comprises transcripts from hundreds of interviews with women veterans of the Great Patriotic War, loosely grouped around various themes. 

It was originally published in the mid 1980s and very heavily censored for its rather unheroic portrayal of warfare, but this is more modern version, revised and updated. 

The range of experience is breathtaking, from fighter pilots, snipers and sappers to telephone operators, laundry staff and medics and a fascinating insight into the Soviet wartime experience. I was particularly struck by the appalling experience of two medics assigned to a tank battalion, who had no assigned transport but instead rode into battle on the back of a tank and then had to run around pulling wounded crewmen out of burning vehicles in the middle of the fighting! 

Well worth a read and highly recommended.