What do you think?
Rate this book
Osprey Combat #21
Finnish Soldier vs Soviet Soldier: Winter War 1939–40
The Winter War was supposed to be a quick and easy conflict; instead it proved to be a bitter war that destroyed the international reputation of the Soviet Red Army. The diminutive Finnish force was desperately outnumbered by almost half a million Russian troops, but rather than sweeping across their neighbours the Soviet troops stumbled blindly, constantly wrong-footed and then bloodied by their seemingly insignificant foe. Drawing on a wide range of sources this study looks at three key battles, drawing a stark contrast between the poorly prepared Russian troops and the Finns, who made excellent use of terrain and innovative guerrilla tactics as they defended their homeland.
Detailed maps and specially commissioned artwork highlight key moments in the Winter War, a David-and-Goliath conflict that saw the Soviet Union suffer horrendous losses as they tried to recover from each disastrous defeat.
Detailed maps and specially commissioned artwork highlight key moments in the Winter War, a David-and-Goliath conflict that saw the Soviet Union suffer horrendous losses as they tried to recover from each disastrous defeat.
153 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 20, 2016
9 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
David Campbell
17 booksDavid Campbell has worked as a new media producer and content specialist for many years, including roles at IBM, the BBC, various Internet consultancies and the British civil service. He is the author of a number of titles for Osprey.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 2, 2021
Charles van Buren
A tiny lion vs. an enormous but clumsy bear
December 1, 2018
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Excellent concise history of the 1939-40 Winter War in which Stalin ordered a Russian invasion of tiny Finland. He expected a pushover but got a bloodbath for the Russian military. The Russians even took a brass band along in the initial invasion to celebrate their victory. They wouldn't need it. The Russians had the material advantages: numbers, tanks, artillery, airplanes and other equipment. The Finns had sissu, Mannerheim and the winter. Marshal Mannerheim summed it up well, reporting at the beginning of the conflict that the army was deficient in all respects save morale.
This book presents a balanced portrait of the Russian and Finnish soldiers and an accurate short history of the war. Well written and illustrated with photographs, art and maps. One of the best Winter War books in my library.
A tiny lion vs. an enormous but clumsy bear
December 1, 2018
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Excellent concise history of the 1939-40 Winter War in which Stalin ordered a Russian invasion of tiny Finland. He expected a pushover but got a bloodbath for the Russian military. The Russians even took a brass band along in the initial invasion to celebrate their victory. They wouldn't need it. The Russians had the material advantages: numbers, tanks, artillery, airplanes and other equipment. The Finns had sissu, Mannerheim and the winter. Marshal Mannerheim summed it up well, reporting at the beginning of the conflict that the army was deficient in all respects save morale.
This book presents a balanced portrait of the Russian and Finnish soldiers and an accurate short history of the war. Well written and illustrated with photographs, art and maps. One of the best Winter War books in my library.
November 9, 2021
The 1st Soviet-Finnish War
Review of the Osprey Publishing eBook edition (2016)
This is a very well done overview of the opposing forces in the so-called Winter War 1939-40 (from the Finnish Talvisota). The nickname derives from its taking place over 105 days of winter from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940 when it was concluded by the Moscow Peace Treaty. The book provides short summaries of the main battle events (The Taipale Sector Dec. 6-27, 1939; The Raate Road Dec. 23-Jan. 8, 1940; the 'Millionaire' & 'Poppius' bunkers Feb. 11-13, 1940), from which you get a good general overview. The main draw is the amount of research and detail about the various orders of battle and the extremely finely detailed colour paintings of the uniforms. These are often based on black & white photographs of the time, of which there is also a generous number included.
Although Finland did end up conceding territory to the Soviet Union in the Treaty, the fact that it was able to not be overrun by overwhelming forces is the main issue of historical interest. Finland's motivated small army made up of forces well used to its winter climate and terrain and knowledgeable in skiing and hunting was able to make a stand against a hapless Soviet army untrained and unfamiliar with the terrain and demoralized by Stalin's purges of its officer class from 1937 onwards.
[image error]
Photograph of a Finnish machine gun crew during the Winter War. Image sourced from Wikipedia at the above Winter War wikipedia link. The same photograph appears in the Osprey book.
Finnish Soldier vs Soviet Soldier: Winter War 1939-40 is part of the Combat series of books published by military history publishers Osprey Publishing. Related books are Soviet Soldier vs Finnish Soldier: The Continuation War 1941–44 (Osprey Combat #49, 2020), The Mannerheim Line 1920–39: Finnish Fortifications of the Winter War (Osprey Fortress #88, 2009), and Finland at War 1939-45 (Osprey Elite #141, 2006)
I read the eBook edition available through Scribd. A useful feature of the online version is that you can click on the images to examine the finer details of the photographs and the maps and uniforms as drawn by contributing artist Johnny Shumate.
Trivia and Links
A fictional account of the Winter War was made in the novel Talvisota (1984), translated as The Winter War (2003) by Finnish novelist Antti Tuuri. It was adapted into a film as Talvisota (1989) by director Pekka Parikka and a trailer from its recent 4K restoration can be viewed on YouTube here.
Review of the Osprey Publishing eBook edition (2016)
This is a very well done overview of the opposing forces in the so-called Winter War 1939-40 (from the Finnish Talvisota). The nickname derives from its taking place over 105 days of winter from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940 when it was concluded by the Moscow Peace Treaty. The book provides short summaries of the main battle events (The Taipale Sector Dec. 6-27, 1939; The Raate Road Dec. 23-Jan. 8, 1940; the 'Millionaire' & 'Poppius' bunkers Feb. 11-13, 1940), from which you get a good general overview. The main draw is the amount of research and detail about the various orders of battle and the extremely finely detailed colour paintings of the uniforms. These are often based on black & white photographs of the time, of which there is also a generous number included.
Although Finland did end up conceding territory to the Soviet Union in the Treaty, the fact that it was able to not be overrun by overwhelming forces is the main issue of historical interest. Finland's motivated small army made up of forces well used to its winter climate and terrain and knowledgeable in skiing and hunting was able to make a stand against a hapless Soviet army untrained and unfamiliar with the terrain and demoralized by Stalin's purges of its officer class from 1937 onwards.
[image error]
Photograph of a Finnish machine gun crew during the Winter War. Image sourced from Wikipedia at the above Winter War wikipedia link. The same photograph appears in the Osprey book.
Finnish Soldier vs Soviet Soldier: Winter War 1939-40 is part of the Combat series of books published by military history publishers Osprey Publishing. Related books are Soviet Soldier vs Finnish Soldier: The Continuation War 1941–44 (Osprey Combat #49, 2020), The Mannerheim Line 1920–39: Finnish Fortifications of the Winter War (Osprey Fortress #88, 2009), and Finland at War 1939-45 (Osprey Elite #141, 2006)
I read the eBook edition available through Scribd. A useful feature of the online version is that you can click on the images to examine the finer details of the photographs and the maps and uniforms as drawn by contributing artist Johnny Shumate.
Trivia and Links
A fictional account of the Winter War was made in the novel Talvisota (1984), translated as The Winter War (2003) by Finnish novelist Antti Tuuri. It was adapted into a film as Talvisota (1989) by director Pekka Parikka and a trailer from its recent 4K restoration can be viewed on YouTube here.
November 5, 2022
Excellent book, awesome illustrations and a brief explanation of the Karelian front and the battle of Raate road, however, Id liked more battle maps, these where not enough.
March 29, 2017
When Hitler's erstwhile ally Stalin moved into eastern Poland and the Baltic States as part of share of the booty, Stalin decided to add a large chunk of Finland to his empire. Unfortunately for Stalin, Finland turned out to be able to defend itself.
This book looks at the Finnish soldier and his opponent the Red Army Man during the Winter War. The Finns may not have been ten feet tall, but they were fighting for their homes and even though they had to bring a lot of their own gear that was good too: their civilian gear was ideal for the icy forests of Finland. The Red Army Man, on the other hand, was poorly equipped, badly trained and led by officers of varying quality who had survived the purges. At least initially, though, their morale was high as they were fed a bunch of propaganda.
An interesting assessment, well-illustrated by photographs and original artwork. A good reference for those reading about the Winter War, or a fine book in its own right.
This book looks at the Finnish soldier and his opponent the Red Army Man during the Winter War. The Finns may not have been ten feet tall, but they were fighting for their homes and even though they had to bring a lot of their own gear that was good too: their civilian gear was ideal for the icy forests of Finland. The Red Army Man, on the other hand, was poorly equipped, badly trained and led by officers of varying quality who had survived the purges. At least initially, though, their morale was high as they were fed a bunch of propaganda.
An interesting assessment, well-illustrated by photographs and original artwork. A good reference for those reading about the Winter War, or a fine book in its own right.
May 10, 2018
Solid entry in Osprey’s relatively new Combat series. Lavishly illustrated with color artwork and black and white photos, with several good maps of the theatre as a whole and the three smaller battles that make up the book’s case studies (the initial Soviet assaults on the Mannerheim Line near Taipale, the Raate Road to Suomussalmi, and the Millionaire and Poppius bunkers). Good balance of top-down strategic background and analysis and groundlevel eyewitness narrative. Especially good on the roles Stalin’s purges, the corruption and lack of imagination of the Red Army’s command, and Finland’s primeval geography played in turning the Russian invasion into a bloodbath. And as always with Osprey, very good, detailed notes on weaponry, equipment, unit organization, and how these affected the soldiers involved.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
February 18, 2020
Es un libro que se lee rápido y tiene una gran cantidad de material gráfico que es muy interesante. Lo mejor del libro es que explica porqué la Unión Soviética sufrió tanto para ganar la Guerra de Invierno, que tuvo lugar a finales de 1939 y principios de 1940.
Sobre el papel, la Guerra de Invierno debería de haber sido un "paseo militar" para las tropas soviéticas. Con un contingente de 900.000 hombres, blindados, aviones y artillería, las tropas de Stalin podían aplastar perfectamente a los menos de 350.000 efectivos que la minúscula Finlandia (con una población de menos de 4mn de habitantes entonces) podía poner en el campo de batalla, con un apoyo nominal en cuanto a artillería, blindados, y no digamos aviones.
Pero las primeras semanas resultaron ser una carnicería para los soviéticos. En un terreno absolutamente hostil para el equipo pesado, y con tropas mal preparadas, los finlandeses dieron buena cuenta de los primeros intentos de invasión mediante una eficaz guerra de guerrillas. El problema era que, al final, el peso soviético se impuso y Finlandia tuvo que hacer importantes concesiones, si bien se especula que el alto precio que pagaron los soviéticos hizo que Stalin desistiera en ocupar por completo el país (que en 1917 se había independizado de la Rusia zarista), como sí hizo con las repúblicas bálticas.
Entiendo que el libro se centre en la preparación y el desarrollo de la contienda, pero creo que hubiera sido muy útil haber incluido un pequeño epílogo sobre lo que supuso la derrota para Finlandia y sus consecuencias. Daría más perspectiva.
Sobre el papel, la Guerra de Invierno debería de haber sido un "paseo militar" para las tropas soviéticas. Con un contingente de 900.000 hombres, blindados, aviones y artillería, las tropas de Stalin podían aplastar perfectamente a los menos de 350.000 efectivos que la minúscula Finlandia (con una población de menos de 4mn de habitantes entonces) podía poner en el campo de batalla, con un apoyo nominal en cuanto a artillería, blindados, y no digamos aviones.
Pero las primeras semanas resultaron ser una carnicería para los soviéticos. En un terreno absolutamente hostil para el equipo pesado, y con tropas mal preparadas, los finlandeses dieron buena cuenta de los primeros intentos de invasión mediante una eficaz guerra de guerrillas. El problema era que, al final, el peso soviético se impuso y Finlandia tuvo que hacer importantes concesiones, si bien se especula que el alto precio que pagaron los soviéticos hizo que Stalin desistiera en ocupar por completo el país (que en 1917 se había independizado de la Rusia zarista), como sí hizo con las repúblicas bálticas.
Entiendo que el libro se centre en la preparación y el desarrollo de la contienda, pero creo que hubiera sido muy útil haber incluido un pequeño epílogo sobre lo que supuso la derrota para Finlandia y sus consecuencias. Daría más perspectiva.
November 8, 2021
A good visualization of a little known but important war
I have read several good books about the winter war, and enjoyed the concise and organized setup of the book, as well as the detailed illustrations.
I have read several good books about the winter war, and enjoyed the concise and organized setup of the book, as well as the detailed illustrations.
November 6, 2016
A solid 4 stars, good review with the usual nugget details.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews