# Siege: A Novel of the Eastern Front, 1942 (A Book Review)



## 3rd Herd (20 Feb 2007)

For those of us with a passion in regard to the Soviet German conflict during the Second World War another novel has surfaced. Written by Russ Schneider as part of his examination of the Eastern front. In, Siege: A Novel of the Eastern Front, 1942 the topic is two episodes in which German forces found themselves surround by the Soviet advances. These being geographically located in Cholm and Velikiye Luki. The story is moved by the views of several characters of the German army. We have an assortment of infantry lower ranks who share the role of protagonists with a General of rear area named Scherer. For once the 'rear area stallion' is actually given a heroic description rather than the usual castigation found in most literary text.

There are new descriptions of Soviet tactics such as in the beginning of the novel with Siberian exiles being shunted from their work camps to bolster the Stalin line defences. The description of this bolstering includes being chained in position and supervised by Soviet Regular Sergeant who is also chained in position as a result of not dying for the motherland. The 105 day siege of Cholm has several interesting observations on survival in the face of overwhelming odds.

Though not as long as the Forgotten Soldier it is an excellent read although for those who do not have a passion in this genre may find it a little dry at times. Interestingly enough the author who is now deceased self taught himself German in order to be able to conduct accurate research. Given this I feel that there is a substantial amount of truth in his narrative conversation amongst his fictional characters.

Further this is the last written work by this author having written other works such as Gotterdammerung 1945: Germany's Last Stand in the East , Madness Without End: Tales of Horror from the Russian Wilderness, 1941-45,  and Demyansk. Released in paperbook form Siege is defiantly worth the read.


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## vonGarvin (20 Feb 2007)

Sounds like an excellent book, and right up my alley (in terms of what I like to read!)


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## geo (20 Feb 2007)

Interesting description 3rd

Thank you


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## wildman0101 (21 Feb 2007)

definately looks like a good read 
will scope it out,,, thanks..
                                   cheers,,,
                                        scoty brandt


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