Ivan's war : life and death in the Red Army, 1939-1945

Resource Information

The work Ivan's war : life and death in the Red Army, 1939-1945 represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in European University Institute. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Ivan's war : life and death in the Red Army, 1939-1945

Title remainder

life and death in the Red Army, 1939-1945

Statement of responsibility

Catherine Merridale

Creator

• Merridale, Catherine, 1959-

Subject

• Soldiers -- Soviet Union -- Social conditions -- 20th century
• Soviet Union, Raboche-Krestʹi͡anskai͡a Krasnai͡a Armii͡a -- History -- World War, 1939-1945
• World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Eastern Front

Language

eng

Summary

A narrative of the ordinary Russian soldier's experience of the worst war in history, based on newly revealed sources. The men and women of the Red Army, a ragtag mass of soldiers, confronted Europe's most lethal fighting force and by 1945 had defeated it. Sixty years have passed since their epic triumph, but the heart and mind of Ivan--as the ordinary Russian soldier was called--remain a mystery. We know something about how the soldiers died, but nearly nothing about how they lived, how they saw the world, or why they fought. Drawing on previously closed military and secret police archives, interviews with veterans, and private letters and diaries, Merridale presents the first comprehensive history of the Red Army rank and file, revealing the singular mixture of courage, patriotism, anger, and fear that made it possible for these underfed, badly led troops to defeat the Nazi army.--From publisher description

Cataloging source

IT-FiEUI

Illustrations

• illustrations
• maps

Index

index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography