Customer Reviews

Night Witches: The Amazing Story Of Russia's Women Pilots in World War II

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Night Witches is a pioneer and readable non-fiction book about Soviet airwomen in combat in World War II. However, it is bad journalism as it was written in a somewhat sensational manner and is full of petty mistakes, such as misspelled names, and airwomen assigned to wrong photo captions, ranks, appointments, and even regiments. The appellation "Night Witches" itself, coined by the enemy, was considered offensive by Soviet airwomen. Night Witches has been largely superseded by books written or edited by the following: Anne Noggle (A Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II, 1994); Kazimiera J. Cottam (Women in Air War: The Eastern Front in World War II and Women in War and Resistance, 1997 and 1998); and a forthcoming book by Reina Pennington (Wings, Women and War: Soviet Women in Military Aviation in the Second World War, University Press of Kansas, 2001).

Despite the occasional misinformation, and the journalistic embellishment in novelizing these true historical events, this is still a terrific book which deserves a larger audience. Any high-school student will find it as inspiring and historically-significant as "Anne Frank's Diary" or "Summer of My German Soldier". It's an entertaining read for anyone who would like to get a personal insight of the young Soviet women (many of them idealistic teenagers) who joined the struggle against the invaders of their homeland. And these gallant Russians' story deserves to be remembered! Author Bruce Myles thought so, after accidentally encountering a single reference to the women's air-regiments of the Great Patriotic War. He was so intrigued that he came to Russia to personally interview, through a translator, a number of veterans of those regiments. His admiration and respect for the veterans and their deeds is evident in his writing. Read this book along with K. J. Cottam's more factual biographies and translated memoirs and Anne Noggles' more recent interviews of Soviet women combat-aviators.

While the historical accuracy may be in question, the book itself is very enjoyable and exciting to read. I wish the text had not ended with the war but gone on to discuss how the women re-adjusted to society and what they did after the war.

This is the very first book by a Westerner on Soviet airwomen in combat in World War II; as such, it represents a welcome contribution to military history. What's more, the book is based on eyewitness accounts: Mr. Myles made several trips to the USSR to interview many of the survivors. He also gained access to personal records, photos, regimental histories, and other written sources. Nevertheless his book apears to be mainly "oral history" intended for popular audiences, without thorough and careful use of written materials. This is undoubtedly why--despite its general authenticity, objectivity and recapturing the spirit of the times--it is marred by numerous errors and omissions. All this criticism indicates that the book must be used with caution and should be followed by more accurate and complete publications on the subject.

I like this book very much. I am waiting for the movie it is being filmed right now in Russia. (..) The heroines deserve to have their stroy told so everybody will know about them. I enjoyed the story of Lily Litvak (...) This book tells her true story and the story of other Russian women who fought in World War 2.

I'm a pilot and also someone who was dating a Russian girl, so I may be a bit biased, but I thought this book was just great. It has humor, romance, flying, sadness, reality, and history. It's told in a captivating manner. Highly recommended!

This is a literal account of air combat, under the most trying circumstances. People fighting for the existence of their Nation and Culture retell their story. An absolute must read.

Buy it. Buy it now. Hit the little one-click button up to the right there. This is an outstanding book. Written in the words of the women who flew, and in the back photos of each of them today. This is one of the best books I have read in a decade.

In its grim fight to the death against Fascism, the Soviet Union exploited every conceivable resource, including that of women as warriors. From night bombing missions using the PO-2 biplane, to taking down German bombers and going head-to-head with Me 109 and FW 190 fighter aircraft with their own powerful Yak-9 fighters, women had the chance to distinguish themselves in aerial combat. The best known of these women, Lieutenant Lily Litvak, is given ample space (perhaps as much as 100 pages in this 271 page book). Litvak and her good friend Katya Budanova (who is also profiled in this book) were the two Soviet women aces of WWII. The author describes the training, combat missions, comradery, and personal lives of these remarkable women.

My favorite section of this book is where Lily Litvak shoots down a German fighter ace, a commanding figure in his early 40's. The German ace is able to parachute from his damaged place and is captured by the Russians. The Russians then ask the German ace if he wishes to meet the Soviet pilot who shot him down. The confident German is happy to meet with his Soviet adversary, but considers it a tasteless joke when he is presented with the petite Russian woman Lily Litvak as the Soviet pilot in question. With the aid of a translator and her own hand motions, however, Lily makes it completely clear (while describing the combat that brought the German plane down) that she was indeed the Soviet pilot who bested him. In the end, the German ace finds himself so shocked that he was shot down by this 21 year old woman that he was not even able to meet her glance!

It is also worth noting, as mentioned in this book, that Lieutenant Litvak was known as "The Rose of Stalingrad" in honor of her acts of valor in that battle. Her Yak-9 fighter plane had a painting of a white rose as its emblem, and marked each Axis plane downed by Litvak by an additional small white rose.

In addition to describing the exploits of pilots like Litvak and Budanova, the author goes into the contributions of the women who worked as aircraft mechanics--often in very harsh winter conditions with temperatures down to -40F.

Reveals a relatively unknown part of WW II history involving women in combat. I had no idea of the role of the Soviet female aircrews, their dedication, skill and performance. May not be the best written book from a literary perspective but the content and episode-weaving into a riveting novel are excellent. Highly recommend!