{"product_id":"the-war-within-diaries-from-the-siege-of-leningrad-9780674248335","title":"The War Within: Diaries from the Siege of Leningrad","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize\u003cbr\u003eWinner of the University of Southern California Book Prize\u003cbr\u003eHonorable Mention, Reginald Zelnik Book Prize\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Fascinating and perceptive.\"\u003cbr\u003e--Antony Beevor, \u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Stand aside, Homer. I doubt whether even the author of the \u003ci\u003eIliad\u003c\/i\u003e could have matched Alexis Peri's account of the 872-day siege which Leningrad endured.\"\u003cbr\u003e--Jonathan Mirsky, \u003ci\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Powerful and illuminating...A fascinating, insightful, and nuanced work.\"\u003cbr\u003e--Anna Reid, \u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Much has been written about Leningrad's heroic resistance. But the remarkable aspect of  Peri's] book is that she tells a very different story: recounting the internal struggles of ordinary people desperately trying to survive and make sense of their fate.\"\u003cbr\u003e--John Thornhill, \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A sensitive, at times almost poetic examination of their emotions and disordered mental states. It both contrasts with and complements the equally accurate official Soviet portrait of a stalwart population standing firm in the face of evil and in defense of Soviet ideals.\"\u003cbr\u003e--Robert Legvold, \u003ci\u003eForeign Affairs\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn September 1941, two and a half months after the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union, the German Wehrmacht encircled Leningrad. Cut off from the rest of Russia, the city remained blockaded for 872 days, at a cost of almost a million lives. It was one of the longest and deadliest sieges in modern history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe War Within\u003c\/i\u003e chronicles the Leningrad blockade from the perspective of those who endured it. Drawing on unpublished diaries, Alexis Peri tells the tragic story of how young and old struggled to make sense of a world collapsing around them. When the blockade was lifted in 1944, Kremlin officials censored publications describing the ordeal and arrested many of Leningrad's wartime leaders. Some were executed. Diaries--now dangerous to their authors--were concealed, shelved in archives, and forgotten. \u003ci\u003eThe War Within\u003c\/i\u003e recovers these lost accounts, shedding light on one of World War II's darkest episodes while paying tribute the resilience of the human spirit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeri, Alexis:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Alexis Peri is Associate Professor of History at Boston University, where she received the Gerald and Deanne Gitner Family Prize in Undergraduate Teaching.","brand":"Harvard University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50493861593362,"sku":"9780674248335","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a5ae1f6a-6499-48cd-bab1-aac51bba91a0.jpg?v=1730658456","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-war-within-diaries-from-the-siege-of-leningrad-9780674248335","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}