The 900 Days: The Siege Of Leningrad (A Da Capo Paperback)

The Nazi siege of Leningrad from 1941 to 1944 was one of the most gruesome episodes of World War II. Nearly three million people endured it; just under half of them died. For twenty-five years the distinguished journalist and historian Harrison Salisbury pieced together this remarkable narrative of villainy and survival, in which the city had much to fear-from both Hitler and Stalin. The Nazi siege of Leningrad from 1941 to 1943, during which time the city was cut off from the rest of the world, was one of the most gruesome episodes of World War II. In scale, the tragedy of Leningrad dwarfs even the Warsaw ghetto or Hiroshima. Nearly three million people endured it; just under half of them died, starving or freezing to death, most in the six months from October 1941 to April 1942 when the temperature often stayed at 30 degrees below zero. For twenty-five years the distinguished journalist and historian Harrison Salisbury has assembled material for this story. He has interviewed survivors, sifted through the Russian archives, and drawn on his vast experience as a correspondent in the Soviet Union. What he has discovered and imparted in The 900 Days is an epic narrative of villainy and survival, in which the city had as much to fear from Stalin as from Hitler. He concludes his story with the culminating disaster of the Leningrad Affair, a plot hatched by Stalin three years after the war had ended. Almost every official who had been instrumental in the city's survival was implicated, convicted, and executed. Harrison Salisbury has told this overwhelming story boldly, unforgettably, and definitively. "The Nazi siege of Leningrad (1941-1943), when the city was cut off from the rest of the world, was one of the most gruesome episodes of World War II. Nearly three million people endured it; just under half of them died, starving or freezing to death, most in the six months from October 1941 to April 1942, when the temperature was often thirty degrees below zero. For twenty-five years the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Harrison Salisbury assembled material for this story, interviewing survivors, sifting through Russian archives, and drawing on his vast experience as a correspondent in the Soviet Union. What he discovered and imparted in The 900 Days is an epic narrative of villainy and survival--one in which the city had as much to fear from Stalin as from Hitler"--Page 4 of cover

A Magnificent Book...a Nonfiction Masterpiece. --new York Times Book Review

library Journal

a Major Work, Which Should Be Widely Read, Said Lj's Reviewer, Who Further Asserted That The Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Posed More Questions Than He Answered (lj 2/15/69). Nonetheless, This Provides A Solid History Into One Of The Darkest Chapters Of World War Ii. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

The author chronicles the siege of Leningrad and describes the suffering of its people and exposes the role of Stalin's political police throughout the war and the endless blunders of the military. Included are events leading up to the siege and the "Leningrad Affair" which occurred three years later. Some of the data comes from Russian documents only recently made available.--from the publisher. The Nazi siege of Leningrad from 1941 to 1944 was one of the most gruesome battles of World War II. Nearly three million people endured it; just under half of them died. For twenty-five years the distinguished journalist and historian Harrison Salisbury pieced together this remarkable narrative of villainy and survival, in which the city had much to fear-from both Hitler and Stalin. Chronicles the 900 day siege of Leningrad by the Germans from 1941 to 1943 during World War II "A magnificent book ... a nonfiction masterpiece."--New York Times Book Review COLD AND WIND, COLD AND WIND-THIS WAS SPRING 1941 in Leningrad.