The Russian Version of the Second World War: The History of the War as Taught to Soviet Schoolchildren

by Graham Lyons

Graham Lyons has taken the two main textbooks used in the senior forms of Russian secondary schools and here presents, in direct translation, the story of the War as seen through Russian eyes. Anyone remotely familiar with 'history' as taught on the western side of the Iron Curtain will read with bemused fascination of the 'real' origins of the Second World War, of the 'true' meaning of the Russo-German Non-Aggression Pact, of why the Russians stopped before Warsaw - and so on, and so on. But why indeed should one version be any more 'true' than the other? This fascinating book not only presents the other side of the coin but poses the much deeper question of the true meaning of the evidently much-abused word 'history'. Its absence from your bookshelves could mean a lack of depth and reality in your view of world- shaking events. Hamish Wilson PHOENIX MAGAZINE An interesting and well-conceived compilation John Terraine PUNCH An entirely worthwhile enterprise. Tony Howarth TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT The reader is in for some pretty severe shocks. Stephen Roskill SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Genres: History

180 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 26, 2016

Reviews

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5. If it wasn't for current times, and me personally witnessing how false information/alternative truths are being spread and accepted, I'd have to say this book was an exaggeration. Having also lived in and around some of the countries liberated by the Soviets I am sure their and my idea of a free and democratic state are different.
That all said, I would have thought I'd enjoy this book more. Towards the end, it was barely holding my attention, and I mostly skimmed over three explanations of incidents.

[Kristen Wegner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly interesting read.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing surprising revealed, but affirms that history is written by the victors. And that history is framing and perspective, not merely simple facts.