Heroes of Brest Fortress

by Sergei Smirnov, Robert Daglish (Translator)

On the frontier, a mile and a half from Brest stands an old Russian fortress. Before the Great Patriotic War (World War II) it was used mainly as a barracks and a supply base. On the night of June 22, 1941 the fortress was manned by only a small garrison, all the main units were in training camps for the summer. Thanks to their numerical superiority and the advantage gained by a surprise attack, the Germans quickly overran Brest and advanced into the hinterland. But some weeks after the outbreak of war rumors began to penetrate the front-line that far back in the enemy rear the heroic garrison of Brest Fortress was still fighting. The rumors were brought by officers and men who had fought their way out of encirclement, and from the bomber crews making night raids into enemy-held territory, who in the region of Brest saw explosions and the glittering trails of tracer bullets in the darkness below them. German staff papers captured in later battles contained the following "The Russians in Brest-Litovsk fought with exceptional stubbornness and determination, they displayed superb infantry training and a splendid will to resist." In this book Sergei Smirnov, who spent many years in a tireless search for information about the immortal garrison, tells the story of the heroes of Brest Fortress who, though completely cut off from their own forces, fought to their last cartridge, their last breath without surrender.

Genres: History

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Sergei Smirnov is a Soviet writer, a historian, a radio- and TV-presenter, a public figure, a Lenin Prize winner (1965). Member of the RCP(b) since 1946.

Smirnov was born into an engineer's family. He quit Moscow Power Engineering Institute without getting a degree and entered the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute. In 1941 he went to the front. After the war he worked as an editor in Voenizdat.

S. Smirnov was the deputy editor-in-chief of Novy mir (November 1953—October 1954), the editor-in-chief of Literaturnaya Gazeta in 1959—1960. The Secretary of the Union of Soviet Writers (1975—1976).

S. Smirnov was famous for his books about heroes of the Great Patriotic War. He did a lot to immortalize heroic deeds of unknown soldiers and to find soldiers missing in action.

Reviews

[Нестор · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ведь были люди в наше время...

Добавить можно разве что закономерный след хрущевских времен в содержании книги и горбачевских в предисловии автора.

Интересный набор фактов, описаний, боев и людей.

Пожалуй, стоит прочитать перед просмотром одноименного фильма или перед прочтением книги А. Дюкова "За что сражались Советские люди".

[Mary]

Брестская крепость. 1964г

[Liene Araja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pagāja mēneši, līdz izlasīju.
vispār patīk vēsturiskās grāmatas, bet no sākuma domāju, ka beigšu lasīt, knapi iesākusi. Tomēr, grāmata ir ļoti interesanta ar bildēm pielikumos.