Vassili Zaitsev, the Russian hero of Stalingrad, wrote his own biography, which is now in print in English. It was the book that inspired the movie "Enemy At The Gates" and the novel "War of the Rats."
Zaitsev titled the book Notes of a Sniper; For Us There Was No Land Beyond the Volga. Zaitsev details the battle from when he was first sent to Stalingrad, up until he was wounded by shrapnel in January of 1943. He heard the German surrender from his hospital bed in Stalingrad - he heard the captive German army marching past. If you are the sort of person who likes first person accounts by actual participants, this is the book for you - Zaitsev explains how he became a marksman in his youth, and then how he and a small band of Red Army snipers managed to terminate more than 1200 Nazis - mostly officers, sergeants, machine - gunners and artillery spotters. | ||
Plot & Themes War/Cloak & Dagger story? - Fought as soldier War/Spying Yes Period of greatest activity? - 1900+ Which war? Subject of Biography Gender - Male Profession/status: Ethnicity - White Nationality - Russian Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 9 () Asia/Pacific Yes Asian country: - Russia Prairie? Yes Misc setting - moving train - fort/military installation Century: - 1930's-1950's Writing Style Book makes you feel? - encouraged - like laughing Pictures/Illustrations? - Some in color 1-5 How much dialogue in bio? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 76%-100% of book |