What was life in the Red Army like for the ordinary soldier during the Great Patriotic War, the fight between the Soviet Union and Germany on the Eastern Front? How far is the common perception of Red Army heroism and sacrifice borne out by historical reality? And what was the daily experience of the individual soldier caught up in this immense and ruthless conflict? The 160 contemporary photographs from the Russian archives that have been selected for this book give a striking insight into all sides of wartime service for the Soviet soldier. The whole range of military experience is portrayed here, from recruitment and the rigours of training to transport, marching and the ordeal of combat.

Artem Drabkin is the creator of the website I Remember which is devoted to recording the oral history of the soldiers and airmen who fought on the Eastern Front. His archive of memoirs and eyewitness accounts is a valuable source for researchers who are studying the Soviet side of the fighting, and it is a fascinating record of the experience of warfare. Among the many publications derived from his work are Tank Rider, Red Road From Stalingrad, T-34 in Action, Red Partisan, Escape From Auschwitz, Barbarossa and the Retreat to Moscow: Recollections of Soviet Fighter Pilots on the Eastern Front, Bomber Pilot on the Eastern Front and Guns Against the Reich.