A Frozen Hell (1991) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 4 stars

“Damn fine read if you have any lineage to the Finns or are a WWII fanatic and want to learn about the catalyst fight that motivated the Germans to launch against the Soviets in June 1941.

The tales of combat are absolutely legendary, stuff that Hollywood could make into an epic David v Goliath tale. Take note: outnumbered 16 to 1 in infantry; 1000 to 1 in armor and don't even try and speculate on artillery and aviation. Yet this military band of mostly peasants, hunters and working class led by a small cohort of officers trained by Prussian elite held their ground and stopped the juggernaught almost stone cold in the Nordic winter lands.
The only downside is trying to keep up with the geography. The titles are all Finnish which is nowhere tied to the Romance languages of the west, so it can be hard to follow the sequences at times. That aside...F-ing EPIC!!!”

• Rated 5 stars

“Outstanding.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Trotter discusses one of the great underdog stories of warfare: the war of attrition that saw Finland holding out against the behemoth that was the Red Army. Despite their superior weaponry and numbers, the Russians failed to plan for a war by misreading Finnish geography as well as the spirit of its people. Especially interesting are the behind the scenes views of Moscow and the Allied powers, who were desperate to make Finland the war front so as to avoid war on continental Europe.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Much neglected, if not entirely unknown, in American's World War Two frame of reference, is the war as it played out in the Nordic regions; in this case the so-called Russo-Finnish Winter War. This book is an exceptionally interesting account of the Soviet invasion of Finland, presumably to acquire, at the least, Finnish land as a buffer against a possible Nazi advance via Norway. Particularly noteworthy are the acheivements of the Finnish infantry's elite ski snipers, who put a serious damper on Russian morale, as well as exacted heavy tolls on Soviet personnel and equipment.

Like any good red-blooded American, you'll be rooting for the Finns all the way through, even though you know that, inevitably, the Finns, while superior soldiers to the incompetant invading Russian forces, must capitulate in the face of overwhelming enemy numbers and resources. It's a reall page turner, especially if you detest the Soviet Union.

Well researched and written in a narrative style that, while not the most elegent, doesn't distract the reader from learning about this important episode of WWII military history. A must have for students and fans of WWII. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“Loved it!”

• Rated 4 stars

“Tells a little known story about the World War 2 in Finland, and the brave freedom fighters who resisted the USSR.”