Soviet Women on the Frontline in the Second World War by Roger D. Markwick and Euridice Charon Cardona

JUDGES' COMMENTS

This book fills a major gap in our understanding of the role of Russian women in the campaign on the Eastern Front in World War II. Altogether, more than one million Russian women served on the frontline in this theatre of war — as aviators, anti-aircraft gunners, nurses, snipers and partisans. Drawing on archival material, memoirs and published sources it restores the lives, achievements and tragedies experienced by these women.

The authors address important questions relating to why women who lived under such a harsh and arbitrary totalitarian regime were prepared to lay down their lives in its defence. The book also explores how war changed their lives, and explains how and why the Stalinist regime was anxious to diminish the roles of these women in the aftermath of victory. The great achievement of this study is in restoring the remarkable contribution of Soviet women to the defeat of fascism.