This novel is about the bloodiest battle of the time of the Siege of Leningrad. The warring sides suffered such losses in the area of Myasnoy Bor that it was called the “Valley of Death.” After the fighting in Myasnoy Bor, the number of some battalions was reduced to just dozens of men. A well-known Russian writer tells about an attempt to break the Siege of Leningrad during the Lyuban offensive operation in the beginning of 1942. For the first time, the text of the novel is published in full, in the author’s version, without cuts and without censorship. In his novel, Stanislav Gagarin was the first to tell the tragic story of the 2nd Shock Army in these battles. And even 30 years after its publication, the novel remains the best piece of fiction about the brutal fighting in Myasnoy Bor.
The author carefully selected information for the book, worked meticulously on every image, and the novel became a bestseller. The book’s characters include Joseph Stalin and Kliment Voroshilov, the generals Meretskov and Vlasov, and fighters and commanders of the Red Army.
The novel includes not only the heroism of Soviet soldiers, but also mistakes made by the highest command. Did Stalin bear the blame for the massive losses and the destruction of the 2nd Shock Army? Could the losses have been reduced and the ring around Leningrad broken? Stanislav Gagarin’s novel tells about that.