Winter War, The: The Soviet Attack on Finland, 1939-1940 [Paperback]

Eloise Engle (Author), Lauri Paananen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1992

Paperback edition of Engle and Paananen's authoritative account of the Winter War.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811724336
• ISBN-13: 978-0811724333
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > History > Europe > Finland
  • #61 in Books > History > Europe > Scandinavia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do yourself a favor and buy this book!, June 26, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Winter War, The: The Soviet Attack on Finland, 1939-1940 (Paperback)

I found the topic of the Russo-Finnish war so intriguing that I bought this book as well as the one by William Trotter (the only ones I could find). This book ("The Winter War") was a true pleasure to read, and exceeded my expectations. I was a little nervous when I bought it, given some of the poor reviews given by a few of the previous readers. My only guess is that they were thinking of a different book, or found the reality of the Soviet Union as an aggressor inconsistent with their worldviews. I should have been tipped off when the one reviewer questioned why the Finns didn't give Stalin what he was asking for! I read the entire book in a single day, and can tell you that it is an extremely exciting story. The book mixes actual accounts from those involved throughout the history, which makes it read like a novel. As far as the one reviewer's comments about the editor not having a good command of the English language, I honestly did not find any such problem. I was an English minor in college, and tend to be fairly sensitive to such problems. Rereading the review in question, I suspect that his real issue was with the portrayal of the Soviet Union as the aggressor.

As far as the other book ("A Frozen Hell"), I sent it back for a refund. That book actually portrays Stalin as the victim!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A summary of the War between the Soviet Union and Finland., October 9, 2003

By 

Kevin M Quigg (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Winter War, The: The Soviet Attack on Finland, 1939-1940 (Paperback)

This is a nice summary book of the war between the Soviet Union and Finland. This book was written back in 1973, and the one on sale here is a reprint. Trotter's book, A Frozen Hell is probably a better book because it gives an analysis of the war, where this book are reflections of the war from the Finish viewpoint. However this book has merit, simply because it has recorded some of the sufferings on the Finish side, in the war with a super powver.
For those people wanting a balanced point of view, go with Trotter's book. For those who only need a brief history of this event, this is an adequate and very readable book, complete with pictures. As one of the previous reviewers has pointed out, one of the authors is a Finn, and this is his first book, so the wording might be a little stilted. However, I don't think it detracts from the story of a war where the Soviets may have suffered over a million casualities, while inflicting only 50,000 casualities on the Finnish population. The Soviets bit off more than they could chew when they decided to invade Finland.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, March 9, 2003

By 

Brent L. Snodgrass "Tuco Mosin-Nagant Dot Net" (Knoxville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter War, The: The Soviet Attack on Finland, 1939-1940 (Paperback)

This is by far the most commonly seen book on the Winter War and the book seems to have had great commercial success. It is often the first book on the Winter War the English reader encounters and as such is seen in many reference libraries. It has been widely distributed and can be located at a number of outlets, being one of the few books dealing with the Winter War that can be located at many local bookstores.

Overall this book is quite respectable and does lay a general overview of the events of the Winter War. The writing of the book is easy to follow, the maps are adequate, and the photos are excellent. The book does not go into great detail and will leave some gaps for the reader but I do not feel the intent of this book to be anything more than a general outline and history of the war. As such it does accomplish what the authors intended to do.

Most of the information that is found in the work seems to be correct and accurate but it does gloss over and leave the reader wanting a bit more. It is an excellent book for one with a slight interest in the Winter War and it also serves as a good introduction for later research. This is indeed the first book that I read that detailed the Winter War and I found it fascinating. The authors do a very good job at communicating what was taking place during the war, the major causes of the war, and many details of the major encounters of the war.

For the first time reader or researcher this is a good source to get your feet wet.