Présentation de l'éditeur
Joseph Pilyushin, a top Red Army sniper in the ruthless fight against the Germans on the Eastern Front, was an exceptional soldier and he has a remarkable story to tell. His firsthand account of his wartime service gives a graphic insight into his lethal skill with a rifle and into the desperate fight put up by Soviet forces to defend Leningrad. He also records how, during the three-year siege, close members of this family died, including his wife and two sons, as well as many of his comrades in arms. He describes these often-terrible events with such honesty and clarity that his memoir is remarkable.
Biographie de l'auteur
Joseph Pilyushin took part in defensive battles around Leningrad from July 1941 till January 1944, and his unit was involved in the Leningrad-Novgorod offensive of 1944\. He was severely wounded and he was eventually discharged. In 1943, when he was awarded the Order of the Red Star, he had recorded 55 personal kills and was credited with training 380 snipers, and by the end of his sniping career his number of kills had risen to 136\. He lost his first wife and two sons during the conflict.