Description

As a Russian recruit in World War II Ivan Makarov witnessed General Chuikov pull out his pistol and shoot their regimental commander as a traitor That was on his first day at the front Thrown into an open field to face German tanks and artillery fire with only rifles and machine guns to defend themselves with almost 2000 men of his regiment were wiped out in only six days at the Eastern Front At this rate Ivan struggled to comprehend how he would survive the hundreds of battles that lay before him with death seeming to be the only certainty

In his raw and trenchant memoir Ivan recounts the terror and despair faced by a Red Army soldier on the Eastern Front He has no sympathy for Stalin and his incompetent commanders who sought awards and recognition at the expense of their soldiers lives He simply wanted to serve his country

It is rare to find firsthand accounts of the Great Patriotic War from Red Army soldiers as many did not survive to tell the tale For the first time Ivan reveals his gripping recollections of battles times places and people encountered throughout World War II from when he was drafted in 1941 until their victory in 1945 These recollections he dared not put on paper until 1992