Leningrad: State of Siege
Michael Jones
Jul 2018 · John Murray · Narrated by Simon Shepherd
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11 hr 53 min
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In 1941 Hitler's armies blocked the last roads leading into Leningrad. What followed was one of the most horrific sieges in history.
When the German High Command encircled Leningrad it was a deliberate policy to eradicate the city's civilian population by starving them to death. As winter set in and food supplies dwindled, starvation and panic set in.
A specialist in battle psychology and the vital role of morale in desperate circumstances, Michael Jones tells the human story of Leningrad. Drawing on newly available eyewitness accounts and diaries, he shows Leningrad in its every dimension including taboo truths, long-suppressed by the Soviets, such as looting, criminal gangs and cannibalism.
But, for many ordinary citizens, Leningrad marked the triumph of the human spirit. They drew deeply on their inner resources to inspire, comfort and help one another. At the height of the siege an extraordinary live performance of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony profoundly strengthened the city's will to resist. When German troops heard it in their trenches one remarked: 'We began to understand we would never take Leningrad.
Yet, Leningrad's self-defence came at a huge price. When the 900-day siege ended in 1944 almost a million people had died and those who survived would be permanently marked by what they had endured, as this superbly insightful and moving history shows.
(P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
When the German High Command encircled Leningrad it was a deliberate policy to eradicate the city's civilian population by starving them to death. As winter set in and food supplies dwindled, starvation and panic set in.
A specialist in battle psychology and the vital role of morale in desperate circumstances, Michael Jones tells the human story of Leningrad. Drawing on newly available eyewitness accounts and diaries, he shows Leningrad in its every dimension including taboo truths, long-suppressed by the Soviets, such as looting, criminal gangs and cannibalism.
But, for many ordinary citizens, Leningrad marked the triumph of the human spirit. They drew deeply on their inner resources to inspire, comfort and help one another. At the height of the siege an extraordinary live performance of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony profoundly strengthened the city's will to resist. When German troops heard it in their trenches one remarked: 'We began to understand we would never take Leningrad.
Yet, Leningrad's self-defence came at a huge price. When the 900-day siege ended in 1944 almost a million people had died and those who survived would be permanently marked by what they had endured, as this superbly insightful and moving history shows.
(P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
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About the author
Michael Jones was awarded a history PhD by Bristol University and subsequently taught at Glasgow University and Winchester College. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and member of the British Commission for Military History, and works now as a writer, media consultant and presenter. Among his historical titles he has written books on the battles of Bosworth, Agincourt, and a biography of the Black Prince. He was TV consultant for Channel 4's Richard III: Fact or Fiction and National Geographic's Mystery Files: The Princes in the Tower, and co-author, with Philippa Gregory and David Baldwin, of The Women of the Cousins' War.
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