When the Red Army invaded Finland in November 1939 most observers expected a walkover. Instead; in a gallant stand that captured the world's imagination; the tiny Finnish army was able to hold off Stalin's mechanized echelons for 105 days. Gordon F. Sander peels away the layers of myth surrounding this Nordic Thermopylae to reveal the conflict in its full military; political; and cultural contexts. A bestseller in Finland; the English-language version of Sander's book draws on interviews with both Finnish and Russian veterans of the war; in addition to a bountiful archive of articles from both the Western and Finnish press; to create the most comprehensive and up-to-date single-volume history of the war.Written in "real time" to give the reader a you-are-there feeling; the book describes the Finns' stunning defeat of the Soviets' initial massive offensive; including the destruction of several Red divisions by Finnish ski troops; the deceptively calm January interregnum; when the two sides engaged in a complicated diplomatic minuet; and the final; titanic Red assault itself; which finally drove the Finns to the peace table-though not before they had forged one of the great legends of modern military history.Using his intimate knowledge of Finland and Finnish history; the author explains how the Finns' winter skills; their innate sisu; or toughness; and their devotion to both their young republic and their brilliant and inspiring commander-in-chief; Gustaf Mannerheim; together enabled them to make their historic stand.Sander explores such oft-ignored aspects of the conflict as Finnish press censorship; the abortive Allied "rescue mission" across Scandinavia that was a factor in Stalin's surprising decision to bring the war to a halt; the Kremlin's novel use of paratroopers in the war; and the pivotal role played by the Lotta Svard; the Finnish all-purpose women's auxiliary.Illustrating Sander's fast-paced text are nearly 50 photographs; including numerous never-seen-before images of both the battlefront and the home front.Hailed by Helsingin Sanomat; Finland's leading daily; as "a bittersweet morality play" that "opens up this quintessentially Finnish tale to a much wider and admiring readership" and by STT; Finland's leading news agency; as "an outstanding book that combines brilliant writing with a rock-solid factual foundation;" Sander's compelling book fills a key gap in the record of the Second World War.
#588561 in Books University Press of Kansas 2004-01-29Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.06 x .82 x 6.04l; 1.10 #File Name: 0700614923384 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great history of the events leading to the civil warBy CaseyThis is a good and very detailed book about the events in Kansas after the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. The Act was designed to bring "popular sovereignty" to the decision of slavery. The residents of the territory would decide if the new state they were creating would be slave or free. Sounds very reasonable to today's readers; but the idea was full of "unintended consequences". First of all; Kansas was a new territory with very few residents. Most the people deciding on slavery would be newcomers to the state. Both pro and anti slavery people flooded into the territory to vote their preference. Lawlessness; political underhandedness and violence was common. Slavery vs. anti-slavery was a very hot button issue at the time. People were not willing to compromise on something they felt so strongly about.The anti-slavery people had several different views. The free-soilers were people who wanted the state free; but didn't really want existing slavery ended. They didn't want thousands of freed slaves coming to Kansas to compete for resources. The abolitionists were the more extreme; by the standard of the times. The abolitionists wanted all slavery ended everywhere. John Brown was the best known and most radical of the abolitionists. He resorted to terrible violence which hurt the anti-slavery cause.At the time; many people in the country thought that this was the civil war that had been avoided for 40 years. Kansas was eventually admitted as a free state. But instead of solving the slavery issue in the United States; it just highlighted it. The fuse was lit and country broke into a terrible and bloody civil war just months after Kansas became a state.I highly recommend this book. It explains an interesting and important part of history that is too often overshadowed by the American Civil War which followed.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Great book for college research paper!By AnthonyI am using this book for a college research paper and could not have asked for more. I'm a Kansan; so the story is interesting to me but the big bonus with this book is the research involved. Etcheson did an amazing job of researching this matter and provides a super comprehensive narrative. I can honestly say that there isn't much of anything that was unclear about the period after reading this. All aspects of the events are covered in depth and all factors are fleshed out thoroughly. If you are looking for a good book to use for a research project and interested in the subject; I highly recommend it.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Really great source for those wanting a detailed study of the ...By JO2Really great source for those wanting a detailed study of the events and characers involved in the violent early history of Kansas.
