A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940 (Paperback)

~ William Trotter (Author) "At the easternmost end of the Baltic Sea, between the Gulf of Finland and the vastness of Lake Ladoga, lies the rugged, narrow Karelian Isthmus..." (more)
Key Phrases: motti tactics, antitank rocks, bicycle battalion, Mannerheim Line, Red Army, Karelian Isthmus (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This history is a well-balanced blend of narrative and analysis. Trotter's overt sympathy for the justice of Finland's cause does not blind him to the justified fear of Nazi Germany that led Russia to demand a buffer zone in front of Leningrad. Similarly, Trotter's admiration for the Finnish army's fighting power does not prevent him from presenting its limitations as well as achievements. Finland's soldiers suffered from fatigue and panic. Their officers were not always competent. Even their victories were incomplete; Russians tied down Finnish troops needed elsewhere. Yet Finland's gallant fight proved decisive in maintaining its independence. In 1940 and again in 1944, Russia chose negotiations over conquest. A Frozen Hell successfully updates Allen Chew's The White Death ( LJ 4/1/72) and belongs in all collections on World War II and modern Scandinavia.
- Dennis E. Showalter, Colorado Coll., Colorado Springs
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"We will not often find a book written with such authority as this one by Mr. Trotter." -- John Eisenhower, The New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565122496
• ISBN-13: 978-1565122499
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,246 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Author's rebuttal, September 4, 2000

By	William R. Trotter (Greensboro, N.C.) - See all my reviews

I have been called many things during my 35-year writing career, but not, until now, a "Marxist". I have also learned the overall futility of taking up cudgels in a public forum with a hostile critic, but the reader from Colorado's screed is so bizarrely off the mark that I cannot refrain.

Look, pal, ALL wars have "two sides" to them. Stalin did not simply wake up one morning and announce to the Politburo: "Hey, wouldn't it be fun to invade Finland next week?" Soviet foreign policy was certainly naive, bullying, and disasterously uninformed about outside realities. But from the viewpoint of a Soviet strategist in 1939, Finland was suspect. Fact: there WAS a powerful pro-fascist clique in the country that had welcomed German aid before (in 1917) and would do so again (in 1941). Fact: The Red uprising in 1917 WAS put down with ruthless savagery. Fact: Stalin apparently really DID believe Finland would acede to his demands. For me not to have mentioned these things, would have been utterly irresponsible.

As for my comments about Finland "opting for a thoroughly bourgeoise form of government" -- the TONE here is decidedly IRONIC, not ideological. Irony, evidently, sails right past this reader's head.

Be that as it may, his whole hysterical tirade collapses in the face of what I wrote on page 17: "ultimately, of course,it came back down to an irreducible case of right versus wrong. Finland was a sovereign nation, and it had every legal and moral right to refuse any Russian demands for territory. And the Soviet Union, for its part, had no legal or moral right to pursue its policies by means of armed aggression."

I don't know how I could possibly make this point more clearly.

If this reader had bothered even to finish my book, I think he would have seen how fiercely my admiration for the Finns -- indeed, my deepy passionate love for that nation -- burns through the book. Certainly, none of the Finnish reviewers who praised the book saw anything "Marxist" about it, and several lauded its historical even-handedness.

Finally, if my book were indeed the sort of bilious "Daily Worker" tract this reader thinks it is, I hardly think it would have been awarded the Finlandia Foundation's Arts and Letters Prize.

I invite curious readers to judge the book on its own merits and on my skills as a story-teller; I did not write it with any agenda in mind other than that of accuracy, completeness, and narrative vitality. Ninety-nine percent of those who have read it seem to agree that I did at least a passable job shedding light on an otherwise obscure and almost-forgotten, but stirringly heroic, episode.

William R. Trotter

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important book about an under-reported conflict, January 11, 2001

By	J. N. Mohlman (Barrington, RI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Unfortunately, the Russo-Finnish war is usually given short shrift in most histories of WWII. This, in spite of the fact that it resulted in hundreds of thousands of casulties, in spite of the fact the Finns performed some of the most brilliant feats of arms in modern history, and, in spite of the fact that the Western Allies sacrficed the Finns on the alter of political "necessity".

The courageous, remarkable defense of their homeland by the Finns in the face of insurmountable odds is no less inspiring or intriguing for its ultimate futility. With an even hand, Trotter guides the reader through the ferocious Finnish winter, and takes us into the minds of both Russian and Finnish soldiers as they fight in some of the most appalling battlefield conditions ever.

In conclusion, my sysmpathy for the Finns is obvious, as is Trotter's, but don't doubt that this is a serious work of history. Trotter deals judiciously with all parties to the conflict based on fact; popular mythology plays no role in this work.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced view of Russo-Finnish Winter War, October 22, 2000

By	"hrautio" (Tyngsboro, MA USA) - See all my reviews

I have read both William R. Trotter's "A Frozen Hell" and Engle & Paananen's "The Winter War: The Soviet Attack on Finland 1939-1940". In addition to these books I am in the process of reading 2 books by Max Jakobson, one of which is specifically on the Winter War, as well as a number of academic journal articles on Finland between 1937-1945.

Trotter has done a great job of recounting the Winter War from both the Finnish and Russian political and military perspecives, using available documents. I am an American-Finn who is very proud of my Finnish heritage, yet I was not insulted by Trotter's treatment of the Russian perspective at all - it was very enlightning. I prefer to understand ALL the "why?"s surrounding an event as momentous as the Winter War. It is nice to have some idea what the Russian reasoning and motives were, even if I don't agree with them. Life is rarely black and white as we would like it to be.

The short biography of Marshall Mannerheim in the beginning was especially useful. Understanding the man sheds light on his actions and opinions. It also explains a bit of the history of Russian-Finnish relations as well.

Improvements: More maps would be very helpful. Also, as a Finnish speaking American I can appreciate Trotter's attempt to make understanding easier for non-finnish speakers, however the occasional reference to places in Finn-glish was a slight annoyance. An example would be "... east of Lake Kuokjärvi" where the word "Lake" is redundant because the name of the place says it is a lake. This is a very picky detail and does not detract from the content.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading "A Frozen Hell". The more balanced and objective view taken by Trotter does not take away from the heroics and Sisu of the Finns. I also appreciated inclusion of a more detailed explanation on the surrounding political climate/situations.