The epic World War II battles between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union are the subject of a vast literature, but little has been published in English on the experiences of ordinary Soviets - civilians and soldiers - who were sucked into a bitter conflict that marked their lives forever. Their struggle for survival, and their resistance to the invaders' brutality in the occupied territories, is one of the great untold stories of the war.

This is why Nikolai Obryn'ba's unforgettable, intimate memoir is so valuable. Written late in the author's life, it tells of Operation Barbarossa, during which he was taken prisoner; the horrors of SS prison camps; his escape; his war fighting behind German lines as a partisan; and the world of suffering and tragedy around him. His perceptive, uncompromising account lays bare the everyday reality of war on the Eastern Front.