The Russian War: 1941-1945 [antikvár]

1;m1 Preface: A People at WarA. J. P. TAYLORIn World War II the camera came of age as an instrument of information and propaganda. Cameramen recorded the German offensive in France and the pathetic columns of refugees. They recorded the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the sinking of T/ie Prince of Wales. They recorded the battle of El Alamein and the landings on D-day. They also showed hfe on the home front: the effects of bombing, the queues, the workers in the factories. There have been innumerable illustrated books on the war and its various aspects. I myself wrote one of them and of course looked at many more photographs than I used. I have helped the writers of other illustrated histories. I imagined that I had gottenbeyond surprise and knew all the visual aspects of World War II.I was wrong. The collection of Soviet photographs that this book presents has stunned and inspired me. It has no parallel. This is not a record of war from on high as seen by the commanders of the time and by historians later. It is the record of a people at war and of their experiences.Because many events of the Russian War are unfamiliar to Western readers, I have provided a brief introduction {set in italics) to each of the episodes from Moscow to BerMn.