This time around we offer brief reviews of four titles concerning the Soviet experience of war, three of them translated from the original Russian.

Cottam, Kazimiera J. Women in War and Resistance: Selected Biographies of Soviet Women Soldiers. Nepean, Canada: New Military Publishing, 1998

ISBN 0-9682702-2-0
451 pages

List of Illustrations; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Abbreviations and Glossary; photos.

Thousands of women served in the Soviet armed forces during World War II, seeing -- despite the "gender conservatism" of the generals -- far more combat duty than their sisters in other armies of the time. Kazimiera Cottam introduces readers to 92 notable female soldiers and airwomen with biographical sketches averaging four or five pages apiece. They all share the distinction of receiving the title "Hero of the Soviet Union" -- the highest Soviet military award -- for their wartime service.

The biographies are divided into sections such as Airwomen, Machine Gunners, Snipers, Tank Troops, Infantry, Naval Infantry, Scouts, Partisans, and Secret Agents, which should give some idea of the breadth of participation of Soviet women in the war effort. Each sketch begins with date of birth and death, rank, unit, and date of decoration. The text then goes on to provide information on birthplace, upbringing, education, service life, and the action that won the award. For those who survived, post-war details are also noted. However, many of these decorations, it will be seen, were awarded posthumously.

Cottam, Kazimiera J. (editor and translator) Women in Air War: The Eastern Front of World War II. Nepean, Canada: New Military Publishing, 1997

ISBN 0-9682702-1-2
315 pages

List of Illustrations; Acknowledgements; Translator's Introduction; Abbreviations and Glossary; photos; maps; Bibliography.

The accounts tend to be short episodes, usually under ten pages, and -- unlike the third-person biographies written by Cottam -- told in first person by the women themselves. They generally prove very dramatic in nature, although there is also much about the conditions of day-to-day life at the forward airfields. Other recurring themes are the bonds of comradeship among the airwomen and the need for self-sacrifice to defeat the invaders.

Loza, Dmitry. (Edited and translated by James F. Gebhardt) Fighting for the Soviet Motherland. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998

ISBN 0-8032-2929-1
261 pages

List of Illustrations; Translator's Foreword; Author's Introduction; maps; diagrams; Notes; Index.

Appendices: Order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; Order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR; Precedence of Soviet Combat Decorations from the World War II Period; Law of the Russian Federation concerning the Status of Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation, and Full Holders of the Order of Glory

The episodes include instances of defective T-34 armor "spalling" (or "steel rain" in the tankers' jargon), the organization of medical evacuation and treatment, and even a story of a typographical error that cost an editor his life. Especially notable are those sections dealing with the kinds of small-unit and junior officer initiative, flexibility, and improvisation which the Soviet Army as seen through Western eyes was often perceived to lack.

Zubkova, Elena. (Translated and edited by Hugh Ragsdale) Russia after the War: Hopes, Illusions, and Disappointments, 1945-1957. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1998

ISBN 0-7656-0228-8
238 pages

Translator's Introduction; Introduction; photos; Conclusion; Notes; Index.

The author presents a social history of the Soviet peoples in the years 1945-1947, looking at such war-related issues as the place of veterans' organizations, the impact of the high male mortality rate, the treatment of those disabled by the conflict, the popular perception of the West, and the ambivalent views of Josef Stalin. An informative look at a time and place usually left out of histories of World War II and the post-war years.

All these titles are available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from the publishers.