Leningrad: state of siege
In 1941 the armies of Hitler surrounded Leningrad. The siege lasted 900 days finally coming to an end in 1944. Leningrad state of siege by Michael Jones tells the human story of Leningrad.
Michael Jones is a historian who specialises in battle psychology and in this book he explores every aspect of how the citizens of Leningrad survived. He looks at some of the taboos, such as looting, criminal gangs and cannibalism. One can not truly comprehend what it was like in till you read some of the stories told by the survivors. Even though there is some shocking examples of how far people will go to survive there is also amazing stories of courage and of how the people of Leningrad tried to keep some resemblance of civilization within their dying city. An example of this is a Theatre who kept on performing even in the middle of a Russian winter. With very small food rations, no heating in the theatre and actors dying between acts they still kept going to full audiences. Many of the audience did not have the energy for loud applause at the end of performances, so just stood silently giving their apperception of the actors. I highly recommend this book.
18 July 2008
