Leningrad - Hero City (Images Of War - Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives)

The Leningrader Blockade as it was known by the Axis Forces involved in carrying it out, was a prolonged military blockade undertaken against the Russian population and its garrison of military forces inside the city of Leningrad (now known as Saint Petersburg). The siege was undertaken by the Wehrmacht's Army Group North and involved a force mainly made up of Finnish and German land forces, with support from Luftwaffe air units, Italian Naval units and Spanish Volunteers fighting under German control. After the successful summer advances by Army Group North in 1941, the city was quickly encircled and cut off from all Russian support by Axis Forces advancing from two directions at once, the south and the north. Adolf Hitler's orders to those encircling forces were unequivocal and clear - 'Raze the city to the ground'. The siege of Leningrad commenced on 8 September 1941 after the last road route into the city was severed by Axis Forces, and it remained completely isolated and cutoff until 18 January 1943, however the siege itself was not lifted until 27 January 1944. The blockade of this city and its mixed civilian and military population by the forces of the Third Reich and its Allies is now considered to be one of the longest and most destructive sieges in modern day history. This illustrated history by Author and former teacher Nik Cornish who specialises in Eastern European History, examines the siege and its effects upon its population as well as the Armed Forces carrying it out and their methods used. This compelling story of heroic actions and of the daily battle for survival by all sides is shown through the use of rare unpublished archival images, some of which can be only said to be disturbingly graphic in nature. Pen & Sword, 2011. — 128 p. The 900-day siege of the Soviet city of Leningrad by the combined forces of the Germans and the Finns is one of the most remarkable, and terrible, events of the Second World War, yet until recently it has not received the attention it deserves – it has been overshadowed by other massive confrontations on the Eastern Front, at Stalingrad and Kursk. And rarely has the compelling story of the siege been told through graphic wartime photographs like those that author Nik Cornish has collected for this book. Many of these images have not been published before, and they give an unflinching insight into the reality of the conditions of the siege as it was experienced by the soldiers on each side and by the civilians trapped in the city who were threatened by starvation, disease, shelling and assault. The entire course of the siege is covered, from the encirclement of September 1941, through the successive attempts by the Wehrmacht to break in and the dogged, sometimes desperate defence put up by the Red Army, to the withdrawal of the Germans and the lifting of the siege in January 1944. Nik Cornish is a former head teacher whose passionate interest in the war on the Eastern Front and in the Red Army in particular has led to a series of important books on the subject including The Russian Army 1914-18, Images of Kursk, Stalingrad: Victory on the Volga and Berlin: Victory in Europe. The 900-day siege of the Soviet city of Leningrad by the combined forces of the Germans and the Finns is one of the most remarkable, and terrible, events of the Second World War, yet until recently it has not received the attention it deserves it has been overshadowed by other massive confrontations on the Eastern Front, at Stalingrad and Kursk. And rarely has the compelling story of the siege been told through graphic wartime photographs like those that author Nik Cornish has collected for this book. Many of these images have not been published before, and they give an unflinching insight into the reality of the conditions of the siege as it was experienced by the soldiers on each side and by the civilians trapped in the city who were threatened by starvation, disease, shelling and assault. The entire course of the siege is covered, from the encirclement of September 1941, through the successive attempts by the Wehrmacht to break in and the dogged, sometimes desperate defense put up by the Red Army, to the withdrawal of the Germans and the lifting of the siege in January 1944. Nik Cornishs portrait of the ruthless struggle of Hitlers armies to capture the second city of the Soviet Union and the determination and suffering of the defenders will be fascinating reading for everyone who is interested in the war on the Eastern Front. [Elib]