A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II

by Elizabeth Wein

Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist!
The gripping true story of the only women to fly in combat in World War II—from Elizabeth Wein, award-winning author of Code Name Verity In the early years of World War II, Josef Stalin issued an order that made the Soviet Union the first country in the world to allow female pilots to fly in combat. Led by Marina Raskova, these three regiments, including the 588 th Night Bomber Regiment—nicknamed the “night witches”—faced intense pressure and obstacles both in the sky and on the ground. Some of these young women perished in flames. Many of them were in their teens when they went to war. This is the story of Raskova’s three regiments, women who enlisted and were deployed on the front lines of battle as navigators, pilots, and mechanics. It is the story of a thousand young women who wanted to take flight to defend their country, and the woman who brought them together in the sky. Packed with black-and-white photographs, fascinating sidebars, and thoroughly researched details, A Thousand Sisters is the inspiring true story of a group of women who set out to change the world, and the sisterhood they formed even amid the destruction of war.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, World War II, War, Historical, Russia, Audiobook

362 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2019

About the author

TIME magazine has put Code Name Verity on its list of "100 Best YA books of All Time."

O.o

https://time.com/collection/100-best-...

Reviews

[Kelly]

An engaging and sharply written story about the Soviet Night Witches of World War II. I'm not a war history fan, so battle stuff here did nothing for me, but all of the social aspects of their stories were absolutely engrossing for me. I'm thrilled this is the trim size it is, too, making it look like an adult nonfiction title or YA fiction title, so chances are teens will pick it up. Images are a nice addition, as are the side bars with additional information. Wein was the right writer for this topic, and her passion for female pilots shines through. An outstanding reference section and notes about sources, about translation, and about the weaknesses in research are themselves great reading, too.

[Brandy Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This contains a lot of interesting information, but it is lacking in cohesion. I feel like it could have used longer time in the editing process. However, it is definitely still worth the read.

[Kim McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not many people are familiar with the brave Night Witches, a group of pilots who flew countless bombing missions during WWII. This is most likely due to these reasons - they were all women, Russian and they were told not to discuss what they did during the war and the pivotal role they played. Stalin needed pilots and agreed to a risky plan to train a select group of young women who would fly into enemy Germany and run nightly bombing missions. The work was difficult, required great aviation skill as many times they could add fog to the already dangerous night flying and was extremely dangerous. Stalin was also clear on something else - you could not be captured nor could you retreat or your family would suffer the consequences. As with all of Elizabeth Wein's books you are completely immersed into what these almost unheard of inexperienced women went through. In a world filled with and run by men, the 588th Night Bomber Regiment outperformed their male counterparts without complaint. This makes a great companion book to Kate Quinn's THE HUNTRESS coming out in February. My thanks to the publisher for the advance read.

[Verónica Fleitas Solich · Rating 5 out of 5]

La historia de un grupo de mujeres que todos debieran conocer, contada con respecto y sinceridad. Estupendo y motivador.
Un 5⭐️ de lujo.
Quiero tenerlo en papel de n mi biblioteca

[MargaretDH · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up because I loved Code Name Verity and Wein's other books, this did not disappoint!

Wein is a pilot herself, and clearly has nothing but admiration and respect for the young women who answered the call of the Great Patriotic War in Russia. Wein covers the women who flew fighter planes, dive-bombers and night bombers (these were the famous Nachthexen, or Night Witches) in the Second World War for the Red Army. Despite that admiration and respect, she's still clear eyed about the faults of the individual women, and though she is impressed with some of the Soviet political and cultural values that led these women gaining so much independence and responsibility, she doesn't sugarcoat the truly terrible aspects of Stalin's rule.

Wein does an incredible job pulling the individual stories of women out of history. This is a wonderful memorial to the women pilots who flew literal hundreds of missions and the women mechanics, engineers and armorers who supported them. Especially since those women were made to sign a pledge after the war promising not to talk about what they did.

I learned a ton from this! I bombarded my husband with all kinds of facts and stories as I was reading, and interrupted him so I could make him look at the photos Wein included.

If you're doing the Book Riot 2020 Reading Challenge, this fulfills the read a YA nonfiction book item. I was really impressed with Wein's ability to make things accessible, but also provide a nuanced portrait of these women and Soviet society. For example, she has a whole chapter about sexual harassment and the sexual mores these women had and had imposed upon them. I suppose I do wish she had written and adult book, because I wanted more, and to go a little deeper into things. I'll probably pick up one of the academic studies Wein used as her research for this, but this was a great place to start and get me interested.

[~☆~Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks Les for recommending this for me! I had a little trouble getting into it but then I was hooked. Those women were amazing.

[Kogiopsis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I should preface this with the fact that I am not a historian, and have only a cursory knowledge of historical research processes and problems. With that said, I found this to be a pleasantly accessible collation of information about the Night Witches and the USSR's other female pilots; Wein is up front about the limitations of her resources, and about the way the chaos of war makes it hard to track individuals. She is not telling a single story, but weaving dozens or hundreds of them together to paint a picture, and I think she did so ably.

This book is targeted at readers in their early teens, and I find myself wondering how they'll react to the incredible youth of Raskova's Regiments. As an adult, it was shocking to realize that many of these women were combatants, then war heroes, and then dead before they reached my age. Wein quotes one of them, 20-year-old Lilya Litvak, describing herself as "completely grown up" in her diary... and she wasn't entirely wrong, because she didn't get much older. There is incredible tragedy here, which is not exactly a shock given the greater tragedy of World War II, but I find every time I read an account which really delves into it, I'm struck by the scale and the horror all over again.

And for Raskova's Regiments, there is plenty of horror on the home front too. I think this is the trickiest tightrope Wein had to walk: how to portray the incredible and heroic actions of these Soviet airwomen, without downplaying the violence of Stalin's USSR as a whole? She was, in my opinion, successful: stories like those of Sonya Ozerkova, stranded behind enemy lines and then, after an heroic return, nearly executed under the "Not One Step Back" policy, highlight the contradiction between the loyalty these soldiers felt to their motherland, and the way that motherland's government repaid them. There is something incredible about people willing to fight for love of a nation that treats them like this, and it occurs throughout history. No matter how you feel about war or the modern military-industrial complex, I think you have to admire anyone who is willing to give their lives for the concept and people of a country, even when the government of that country treats them abominably.

Wein also was extremely careful in her discussions of the young airwomen's relationships and gender expression. She makes no assumptions, either of heterosexuality or queerness, but simply chronicles the different attitudes they had towards femininity in war time, and the relationships they formed, and acknowledges the places where we will simply never know all the answers. Were some of Raskova's Regiment gender-nonconforming or attracted to other women? Statistically, it's likely, but we can't be sure. Still, even her acknowledgement of the possibility was appreciated.

Raskova's Regiments are, to this day, probably less recognized than they deserve to be, especially in non-Russian-language scholarship and media. I definitely appreciate the view Wein has provided into their lives and actions, and I hope that this book inspires young people to explore history and write the next best book on these incredible women.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The true story of some of the first women aviators. This was an interesting take on how women in Russia were fighting in the war long before women were accepted in military service in most other parts of the world. It was a little long but the stories of these plucky women was new to me and held my interest.

Content: a little language, some of the stories were a little graphic but not a lot of detail.

[Dest · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is stunning to me that I found this boring, but I kinda did. I almost quit part way through. Maybe it's because I listened to the audiobook. I couldn't keep the characters straight except for two (Marina and Lilya) and when they died I was ready to be done. I love learning about unsung heroes, but this didn't hold together as a story. It felt more like a really well written textbook.

Even though I can't say I enjoyed this, I learned a lot from it.

[Zoë ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was super interesting and inspiring to read, but it was written in a way that was quite confusing. I couldn't follow exactly who was who, which is a shame bc these women were badass! 2/3 through I also got less excited to pick it up because of the fact that it was confusing, but it was still worth the read imo.

[Ellie J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars
Recommended for people who like: WWII, history, women's stories, perseverance, aviation history, Soviet history, feminism, other books by Elizabeth Wein, narrative nonfiction

I got this book as an ARC from a contest, I was not required or asked to write a review.

I already knew a bit about the Night Witches due to my interest in WWII and flying, however, it's still relatively difficult to learn about them. This is, in part, due to the fact that after WWII the USSR had a pretty tight grip on what got out of its borders, the second part is explained by Wein in the book--the women were told not to discuss their roles in the war. I was quite pleased when I discovered this book was coming out, by one of my favorite authors no less! It did not disappoint.

The book starts by discussing Marina Raskova and her rise into 1) becoming a pilot, and 2) becoming the founder of the Night Witches. It's interesting to read about Marina growing up in a Russia that was unsettled by the politics of the time, yet still managing to persevere and become a female pilot in what was still, even in the 'gender equal' Russia/USSR, a man's world. From what Wein writes about her, Marina seemed to not only have been influential for female pilots and the aviation industry of Russia, but was also influential in politics.

After the bit about Marina and how the politics and society of Russia changed to allow so many young women into aviation, Wein got deep into the sections of the 588th Bomber Regiment, the 46th Bomber Regiment, and the 586th Fighter Regiment. Despite the 'equality' of the USSR in giving girls the chance to fly, the women in the regiments still had to fight to join the air force. Of course, all of the girls who signed up wanted to fly, practically speaking, it wasn't possible to assign all of them to be pilots. Some became pilots, others became navigators, and some never reached the air at all, performing ground-crew tasks such as loading bombs, repairing the planes, and refueling.

Despite any disappointments in assignment, the women in the regiments were all very connected and, describing themselves as sisters and family. If there was a loss--of which there were many--it was felt by all in the regiment. I really liked how Wein made sure to include this in the story. It would've been very easy to simply tell the story of the women and only focus on the war side of the story, instead, she manages to weave in the emotional side between descriptions of bombings, training exercises, and losses. These women were afraid together, afraid for each other, they loved each other, and it comes through not just in the moments when Wein points it out, but also in the moments directed elsewhere. She is also good at pointing out that the relationships of the women with one another were heavily influenced by the USSR's--and the time's--views on heterosexuality, and that it is entirely possible some of the women loved each other romantically and not just platonically, but couldn't be open about it due to the beliefs about homosexual relationships in Russia both during WWII and now.

A Thousand Sisters was well-researched and well-written. The story has a good balance between the war side of the story and the emotional one. It was also nice to see the 'inserts' that discussed things mentioned in the book, or how things were going for women in aviation abroad. I was very happy with how the book read and the amount of information I got about the Night Witches that was previously unknown--or at least unknown to me.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a reader and fan of the history of the Night Witches since I found a battered hardback in my middle school library about the only all-women aviation combat unit in World War II. Since then, it's been hard finding information on them, but in the four years or so there have been several YA and adult fiction novels written about these remarkable women.

So imagine my surprise and delight when I saw that Elizabeth Wein—one of my favorite YA historical fiction authors and champion of women in aviation—was writing a nonfiction YA novel on my favorites!!

This is a comprehensive look at the women (and men) of Marina Raskova's regiments (there were three: the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, the 587th/125th Guards Regiment of Day Bombers, and the 588th/46th Taman Guards/Night Witches Night Bomber Regiment—the first two integrated men into their structures, but the Night Witches stayed all-women for the duration) and the ups and downs, deaths and successes, of the brutal fight on the Eastern Front.

In addition, Wein places the conflict on the Eastern Front in World War II in context with that was happening with the rest of the war, and provides a good lead-in to gender equality (well, equality on paper) in the Soviet Union versus the rest of the world. This contextualization of the Night Witches helped place them in time, both geographically and socially, with more familiar storylines like the Nazi bombing of London in 1940, D-Day and the war in the pacific.

Most importantly to this book was the inclusion of her source notes, which were many—although she notes that her inability to read Russian limited what she had access too.

The writing is crisp, clear and riveting. While it is written for a YA audience, it does not shy away from gore, but the gore is not used as a shock tactic but merely to show the brutality that is war. While there were some clunky metaphors spread throughout the book (e.g., the use of wind as a metaphor for change and shifting norms), there were many parallels to today's political environment, for example:

Fascism, which we associate so strongly with the Nazi Party, is a form of government rooted in nationalism, in which democracy gives way to a dictator.

An unsubtle jab at the current rise in nationalism in um, certain places.

But this isn't just a rah-rah rallying cry for the amaze-ballness of the Soviet Union. In addition to the triumphs in women's equality in aviation, education and other areas, Wein also points out the destruction and devastation the leaders of the Soviet Union brought on their own people, either through collectivization and starvation, the fear of exile, torture or murder, and the extreme desire to conform to avoid being reported on by a "friend" or neighbor.

Overall, this was an enlightening look at both the early days of the Soviet Union, women in aviation, the "Great Patriotic War," and of course, Marina's Regiments of women aviators.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Edelweiss for an honest review.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite interesting but kind of long.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Code Name Verity and also really liked some of Elizabeth Wein's fiction. I'm also interested in women in aviation, so I was looking forward to reading this. However, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. (Not bad, just not up to her fiction.)

This is clearly written as YA. Especially in the beginning I felt that there was a lot of simplifying. Some things were given as facts, which could be subject to interpretation. (One that jumped out at me was on page 36: "Early in 1938, Germany merged with its neighbor, Austria to form a bigger and stronger state called 'Greater Germany.' Most Austrians were ethnically Germanic, and this wasn't an invasion of their country. It was a union that was popular with both Germans and Austrians." This particular statement was jarring since I had just read The Only Woman in the Room which includes disagreements within the Austrian government about how much to ally with Hitler, and I grew up with The Sound of Music in which the Von Trapps flee Austria instead of going along with the Nazis. This led me to question how much of the book had statements given as straight facts rather than interpretations.)

I knew that there were a number of women Soviet pilots, but this book did have a lot of information which I hadn't been aware of. There is a fair amount of repetition, which helped to clarify who the different people were since a lot of first names were shared.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a superb inspiring book! This is well written, deeply respectful of the women who carried out this heroic service to the Motherland. By necessity, it was hard to keep track of the individuals, a problem the author recognized and tried to help by saying X name, who flew in Y incident previously covered in the book did such and such. The author chose a chronological format for telling the story. I appreciate the brief summaries given of women fighting in other Allied countries as well. It ends by pointing out to the reader that everyone and anyone can make a big difference.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"War is war, and life is life."

A Thousand Sisters follows the creation and the adventures and exploits of the three Soviet regiments of female pilots created by famed pilot Marina Raskova in 1941, shortly after the start of World War II. Russia was the only country to allow women to fly in combat and it took no small amount of convincing and political clout on the part of Raskova to convince Stalin to try out the idea. Thanks to the military training undertaken by many of the young Soviet women who grew up expecting to need to defend their country against a "future war," there was no shortage of recruits who desperately wanted to help on the front lines. Almost a thousand of them would join Raskova at the training grounds in Engels, where they would be split into three regiments: the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, the 587th Bomber Regiment and the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (the last of whom would become better known as the "Night Witches"). Throughout the next four years of the war, these women would fly hundreds of combat missions, fighting and dying to protect their Motherland from German invasion and eventually pushing back into Germany itself. A Thousand Sisters is the story not only of the regiments but of many of the combatants themselves, with stories taken from personal accounts as well as histories.

As a history geek, I absolutely loved this book. As a librarian, I want very much to recommend it but also can recognize that it isn't going to be for everyone. A Thousand Sisters is aimed at teens, particularly girls, with stories of women who made a name for themselves in a time in which many were not allowed to participate. It's full of heroism and tragedy and friendship but it's also a ton of information and names packed into an amazing history. Wein tells personal stories to help not only empathize with the women but to remember the difference between Galya Dokutovich and Galya Dzhunkovskaya. I do think the book would have benefited from some sort of index of names as reminders because while I don't usually struggle to remember character names, I had some trouble remembering who was who sometimes while I was reading.

Overall, A Thousand Sisters is a fantastic history that needed to be brought to light and makes for fascinating reading. It never feels dry or boring, but the sheer amount of information can sometimes feel overwhelming. I'd certainly recommend it to any history geek interested in the time period and in the Russian experience of World War II.

[Elianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been impressed with Elizabeth Wein’s works - Code Name Verity and The Pearl Thief are my two favorites. When I discovered she was writing a non-fiction book, I was excited, to say the least. I waited in anticipation for A Thousand Sisters to be released. It took me several months to get my hands on a copy of the book, and when I did, I was not disappointed.

A Thousand Sisters is a non-fiction book about the women who flew in the U.S.S.R.’s air force during World War Two, or, as Russia terms it, the Great Patriotic War. These women flew dozens of combat missions a night and faced double the challenges the men faced due to their sex. Despite this and the typical wartime tragedies that befall soldiers, these women’s squadrons produced some of the best pilots in the war. This tale isn’t often told in the West, whether it be because people choose to turn a blind eye because they are Soviets, or because no one has chosen to care since World War Two. (These women garnered much attention during WW2, especially in America.) Despite, and in fact because of this, their tale of bravery in the face of adversity and war is inspiring and rings true no matter the era described.

The one thing I disliked about A Thousand Sisters is rather miniscule. In the first part of the book, Wein spends what I felt was too long describing some simple matters concerning terminology. Granted, I did learn this terminology from her other books; however, in those books I had to use context clues to figure them out - there was no explanation handed to me. This leads me to believe that these terms could have been learned via context clues in A Thousand Sisters. I do understand why Wein included such explanations, but I did find that they were occasionally clunky and disrupted the narrative aspect of A Thousand Sisters.

Other than that, fantastic book! I would recommend this to anyone who has an appreciation for World War Two, aviation, or are interested in learning about women in history.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, this is an Elizabeth Wein book, so you know it was great! I am absolutely obsessed with the stories about these brave Soviet/Russian women. I first read the book Night Witches and became hooked on this historical story. Then this book was put on the Arkansas Teen Book Award readers list and I knew that I just had to read it. You will feel as if you are up in the sky flying with each of the women in the book. Although I did love it so very much (as an adult), I am not sure that a teen reader would stick with it. Sadly, most of my teen readers are not interested in historical events. *SO SAD* I feel like this would be better suited for an adult audience. Wonderful story overall, but no surprise there.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a true story of trimuphs and losses, set during world war II. I really enjoyed reading this book because Elizabeth E. Wein is very good at describing stuff. I felt like I was actually in the airplanes with the women pilots. I actually was suprised at Russia being the first country to allow women to fly in battle, but it makes sense because the country was communist at that time and they had gender-equality ideals. This book was tough to read at times when it talked about the graphic crash scenes, and for me, it was hard to keep track of all the women in the story. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Amanda Kingswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great nonfiction book about the air women of the Soviet Union. It is filled with amazing women and what they overcame. It was interesting to read about a different country during World War II. I would recommend this book for those that want to read about Russian history or if you love a good girl power book.

[Tori Rider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another view of WWII from the Russian side. Book is a true story of women fighter pilots. Russia is the only country that had women in combat fight and they got paid equal to men. It was sad to read that after WWII, the women were basically sent back to civilian life. The book said that there are fewer women pilots now in Russia that what there was during WWII. Very interesting read.

[Elevetha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars because historical awesomeness and lady pilots!!! That being said, I verge on giving it two stars because it wasn't written in a very engaging way. It bounces around a lot and all the girls blended together so much, it felt hard to have personal connections to any of them.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved loved loved “Code Name Verity” and you know how I feel about planes. This nonfiction read was an educational one about the female pilots of the Soviet Union. It’s engaging, but only if you’re interested in this topic.

[Jennifer Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the personal stories interwoven with the overall stories of the three regiments, both put in context with the rest of the war and what other countries thought about the use of women in war. A wonderful overview!

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had no idea about what they accomplished until I discovered this book.

[Nicole Detter Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually a 3.5. I listened to it. The narrator sort of sounds like a computer, somehow. However, I don’t think I could have stayed vested interest it to read it. I found many of the stories inspirational.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Wein is a must read work of YA Nonfiction. If you're at all interested in women's roles in wartime, aviation, the Night Witches, the WASPs, or just appreciate Elizabeth Wein's style, this is a fascinating and incredibly readable. I've said it before but I'm always on the lookout for YA nonfiction and this one can't be missed especially if you appreciate Wein's historical fiction.

[Berna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Wein never disappoints.

[Trisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is more of a non fiction book of the famous women that made up the Night Witches Regiment of the Soviet Union, one of three regiments of women you still don't hear much about on the history channel or in history books but made such a big difference in the war they fought and died in. Most of the Night Witches were just teens trying to help their country. Elizabeth Wein is a master at telling the story of those whose story might have been lost to time and death, and this is no different, the story of the Night Witches is one that needs to be shouted out and not forgotten, that those women were heroes for their country and should be remembered as such and for what women can do. It was a sisterhood, a bond, that can't be broken.

This is a wonderful book of heroism and a unbreakable bond. It shows what heart really is during a trying and awful time. Elizabeth Wein has another great book on her hands and we hope she never stops writing about these wonder women from both sides.