The Winter Warriors

By Olivier Norek

A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2025

A Historical Novels Review Editors Choice 2026

"A novel you will not put down. Maybe never."--Richard Ford

With over 600,000 copies sold, an award-winning WWII novel about the heroism of a single Finnish infantry company--and the best sniper the world has ever seen--defending their country against the largest army in the world

November 1939: The Soviet Union invades its small, relatively defenseless neighbor Finland, just three months after the declaration of World War II. So began what is known as the Winter War. A makeshift Finnish army of soldiers, workers, and farmers must face off against columns of tanks and millions of Stalin's Red Army fighters.

In a dramatic and deeply moving narrative based in part on diaries, journals, and accounts of participants, Norek captures the horror and tragedy of war. Soldiers go to battle with a shortage of weapons, and cold becomes both enemy and friend--causing wounds to freeze and limiting the movement of the invaders. The legendary sniper Simo H yh , nicknamed the "White Death," puts terror in the hearts and minds of the Russians.

Intense, propulsive, and deeply human, The Winter Warriors is a stunning historical novel of Finnish courage and determination in the face of the Soviet invasion.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802167659
• ISBN13: 9780802167651
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.8" x 8.7"