The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War IIA long-awaited English translation of the groundbreaking oral history of women in World War II across Europe and Russia--from the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post * The Guardian * NPR * The Economist * Milwaukee Journal Sentinel * Kirkus Reviews For more than three decades, Svetlana Alexievich has been the memory and conscience of the twentieth century. When the Swedish Academy awarded her the Nobel Prize, it cited her invention of "a new kind of literary genre," describing her work as "a history of emotions . . . a history of the soul." In The Unwomanly Face of War, Alexievich chronicles the experiences of the Soviet women who fought on the front lines, on the home front, and in the occupied territories. These women--more than a million in total--were nurses and doctors, pilots, tank drivers, machine-gunners, and snipers. They battled alongside men, and yet, after the victory, their efforts and sacrifices were forgotten. Alexievich traveled thousands of miles and visited more than a hundred towns to record these women's stories. Together, this symphony of voices reveals a different aspect of the war--the everyday details of life in combat left out of the official histories. Translated by the renowned Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, The Unwomanly Face of War is a powerful and poignant account of the central conflict of the twentieth century, a kaleidoscopic portrait of the human side of war. THE WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time." "A landmark."--Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century "An astonishing book, harrowing and life-affirming . . . It deserves the widest possible readership."--Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train "Alexievich has gained probably the world's deepest, most eloquent understanding of the post-Soviet condition. . . . [She] has consistently chronicled that which has been intentionally forgotten."--Masha Gessen, National Book Award-winning author of The Future Is History |
Contents
GROW UP GIRLS YOURE STILL GREEN | 19 |
I ALONE CAME BACK TO MAMA | 71 |
TWO WARS LIVE IN OUR HOUSE | 91 |
TELEPHONES DONT SHOOT | 99 |
THEY AWARDED US LITTLE MEDALS | 113 |
IT WASNT ME | 131 |
I REMEMBER THOSE EYES EVEN NOW | 141 |
WE DIDNT SHOOT | 159 |
THE COMMANDER | 211 |
TO SEE HIM JUST ONCE | 225 |
99 | 232 |
ABOUT TINY POTATOES | 251 |
MAMA WHATS A PAPA? | 281 |
AND SHE PUTS HER HAND TO HER HEART | 303 |
SUDDENLY WE WANTED | 323 |
THEY NEEDED SOLDIERS BUT WE ALSO | 185 |
Other editions - View all
The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II Svetlana Alexievich Limited preview - 2017 |
The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II Svetlana Alexievich Limited preview - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
afraid alive already army shirt asked bandaging battalion battle beautiful began blood bombed boots boys burned commander commissar Comrade Cossack daugh daughter dead death dress dugout everything eyes fascist father fell fight fire frightening front line gave German girls hands horse hospital human husband kasha killed knew kolkhoz Komsomol Kursk later laughed legs LIEUTENANT live looked mama Marina Raskova Minsk Moscow mother never night NKVD nurse Olya once overcoat papa partisans pity plane platoon political commissar recruiting office Red Army remember rifle Russian sapper sent sergeant major shelling shoot shot shouted sleep soldiers Soviet Soviet Union Stalin Stalingrad stood submachine gun suddenly talk tank tears tell there's thing thought told took train turned Ukraine Vasilyevna Victory Victory Day village waited walked wanted wept whole woman women wounded young