On the Road to Stalingrad

By Zoya Matveyevna Smirnova-Medvedeva

Book Overview

Zoya Medvedeva (married name Smirnova), the author and principal heroine of this book, a creative documentary, fought with the famous 25th Chapayev Infantry Division. She has provided an authentic,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585101583
• ISBN13: 9781585101580
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Focus
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A common soldier who happens to be a woman

This is a very interesting autobiography of a woman soldier in the Red Army during World War 2. Many people do not know over million women fought in combat in the Soviet Union. I don't know why this book is called On the Road to Stalingrad, because it is not about the battle of Stalingrad. Zoya fought in Sevastopol to liberate the Ukraine. She was not special or a heroine, she was just doing her job, which was a Maxim Machegun operator. She was wounded and went back to the front. The end of the biography is very poignant as she describes what happened to all her comrades. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the War.

very good book

This is a very good book. I read the whole thing on a flight to Russia. It is about a Russian woman who joined the army when Hitler attacked Ukraine. She fought in the famous regiment of Chapeyev. She was wounded, but returned to fight. This book shows how difficult was the war, when everybody was needed to fight. If you have interest in World War 2 you will like this auto-biogreaphy.

Memories from a forgotten front

You may be in for a surprise: not only Zoya Smirnova-Medvedeva (whose memories as a 19 years old volunteer with the 24th "Chapayev" Division of the Red Army details her involvement in the ultimately tragic defence of Odessa and Sevastopol in 1941 and 1942) didn't kill many Germans in her wartime career, but she spent much of the war - before being demobilised in 1944 after receiving a disabling wound - doing what most soldiers do: trying to save her own life while doing her own duty. It's interesting to note how the most sincere memories of the Eastern Front (see for instance "In Deadly Combat", a superb German account of the life on the Baltic Front) tends, after all, to make WWII look like WWI. No dashing armoured assaults, no shining new technology: but trenches, long and tiresome marches, endless artillery and aerial strikes, hunger, cold and weariness. In Zoya's case you should add a not-so-subtle tendency of her comrades to be alternatively suspicious or patronising about her warlike qualities, and the difficulties of being a woman forced on a uneasy cohabitation with a lot of male recruits, fighting a defensive battle in definitely-not-triumphant phase of the war. Zoya tends (of course) to downplay the relation problem and emphasise the comradeship, but reading between the lines something becomes evident. It may sound as downright depressing but, while "On The Road To Stalingrad" (another entry in the outstanding series of Russian wartime women memories edited by professor KJ Cottam) is at times truly grim , especially when dealing with the loss of human life so matter-of-factly, it's still a great reading, tempered by a detached, objective attitude and the usual Russian fatalistic humour. You really get the impression that Zoya's comrades are the same Russian soldier of Tolstoy's books- down to earth, rugged people with few illusion but an unlimited faith in friendship as a mean to survive every calamity.As often happens in Soviet-era war literature, some truth become plain to the attentive reader: for instance, that the relationship between the Red Army and the population were (at least in 1942) less idyllic than what the official histories would make us believe. Also, bits on the occasional incompetence and simple cowardice on the Soviet sides are often hinted (even if balanced by many narratives of Soviet heroics, of course). And no, the Germans in this book aren't your average dupes. The biggest surprise (if you're not familiar with this type of literature) may come from "politics" department. Not only you'll not get much the tirades so often hammered on the reader's throat in the Soviet general's memories, but you'll hardly find any straightforward "political" note at all - except from the token patriotic bit on the defence of the Motherland against the invaders. My theory is that in the 60's (when most of these type of text was written) it had become much safer to avoid completely the topic rather than deal with it in the wrong way

On the Road to Stalingrad:Memoirs of a Woman Machine Gunner

This book provides a fascinating account of the wartime experiences of a female member of the Chapayev regiment. The translation is excellent. It gives a fascinating glimpse into the heroic effort of Soviet women who fought at the front. This book is an absolute treasure! I highly recommend it.

Memoirs of a Woman Machine Gunner

Another brilliant look inside the life of a true Russian hero who happens to be female. Nearly one million women served the Soviet Armed Forces during WII, and many if not most of these women were active combatants.The author fought with the famous 25th Chapayev Division, and provides us with an honest eyewitness account of the desperate fighting for the Odessa and Sevastopol. She was half-blinded yet she still drove herself to rise in the ranks and become a machine-gun company commander. In this book, she details the heroics of her comrades without focusing primarily on herself- though we certainly come to understand her integrity and grit.Another wonderful offering from K.J. Cottam and New Military Publishing. Leslie BlanchardEditor A Writer's Choice Literary Journa