A new book from the bestselling author of “The Mortal Field” and “Commander of the Penal Company”! The terrible truth about the Great Patriotic War. The war through the eyes of front-line soldiers - ordinary infantrymen, reconnaissance officers, artillerymen, penalty soldiers. “The heroes of this book have one thing in common - they were all at the epicenter of the war, at its edge. Now they are over eighty. They don’t need to show off. They told me the truth. That very “trench truth” that was not particularly favored by the highest ranks for decades, when general memoirs that did not stoop to the “trifles” were in vogue: how thousands of soldiers died in frontal attacks, where the soldiers spent the night in winter, what they ate and what they thought. By endlessly repeating the words “heroism, courage, self-sacrifice,” the fate of all veterans can be lumped together. These are the right words, but front-line soldiers don’t like them. They gave everything they could to their homeland. Everyone has their own destiny, which is usually very difficult. They remember the horrors of war extremely frankly, without self-censorship or reticence, without embellishment. You will hear their living voices in this book...