Soviet Women on the Frontline in the Second World War

One million women served in the Red Army on the Eastern Front in the Second World War, resisting the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union; genocidal, misogynist, warfare of unprecedented ferocity. Another 28,000 women fought with the partisans. Mass participation by women in warfare on such a scale is historically unique. This book explains why and how Soviet women came to fight en masse in Stalin's 'Great Patriotic War' of 1941-45. Drawing on a vast array of original archival, memoir, and published sources, it captures the confronting, everyday experiences voiced by Soviet women aviators, anti-aircraft gunners, nurses, snipers and partisans fighting, living and dying on the anti-fascist frontline. In doing so, it examines the aftermath of women's mass military participation and what it says about the place of women in Stalin's Soviet Union.

ROGER MARKWICK is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History, School of Humanities and Social Science, The University of Newcastle, Australia. His Rewriting History in Soviet Russia: The Politics of Revisionist Historiography in the Soviet Union, 1956-1974 (Palgrave: 2001) won the Alexander Nove Prize in Russian, Soviet, and Post-Soviet Studies for 2001.

EURIDICE CHARON CARDONA is a Conjoint Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Science, The University of Newcastle, Australia. She holds a PhD in anthropology from The University of Newcastle, Australia, and an MA in history from the University of Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

'Abrilliant, evocative, and meticulously researched book about an important and intriguing topic. Why did so many million Soviet women bear arms between 1941 and 1945? How did their experience as warriors change their lives? This is a "must read" not only for people passionate about Soviet history, but for anyone thinking seriously about the relationship between militarism and femininity.'
- Joanna Bourke, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK

'The first comprehensive study in English of Soviet women on the Eastern Front in the 'Great Patriotic War', this book uses a wealth of sources to reveal the array of military roles women undertook, and their aftermath. At times a harrowing story, anyone interested in the Second World War, the Soviet Union and women's history will gain fresh insights from this meticulously researched book. A must and a pleasure to read!'
- Beate Fieseler, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany