The epic story of the "900 days and nights” of the Siege of Leningrad, set within the history of the iconic city from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin.
In the crucible of World War II, Saint Petersburg—then known as Leningrad—stands as a testament to human endurance. As the Nazis encircle the city, intent on annihilating its 1.5 million inhabitants, the narrative plunges into the harrowing nine hundred days and nights of relentless hardship and unyielding resilience.
Starving residents, horrified by their own gaunt reflections, resort to bulking bread with wood shavings, consuming wallpaper paste, and even turning to their pets. Workers at the mass crematorium numb their horror with extra vodka rations. Yet, amid this suffering, the resilience of culture and hope shines through, with orchestras and theatres defiantly continuing their performances, a flicker of humanity against the backdrop of despair.
This book not only chronicles the Siege of Leningrad but also traces the pivotal importance of Saint Petersburg across the centuries. From Peter the Great’s visionary founding of the city, through its revolutionary rebirth as Petrograd and its Soviet identity as Leningrad, to its renaissance as Saint Petersburg in the post-Soviet era, we explore the layers of history that shape this extraordinary place
“Making use of diaries, memoirs, and letters from those involved, McKay delivers a disturbing description of the siege itself. The horrors of war, skillfully told on an epic scale.”
“McKay offers an elegiac chronicle of the three-year siege of Leningrad. The author astutely dips into the city’s past and future, from its 1703 founding (as Saint Petersburg) by Peter the Great through Vladimir Putin’s birth there in 1952, looking for insights into what in the city’s character allowed it to endure the siege’s horrors. Lyrical and arresting, it’s a kaleidoscopic account of a population pushed to the edge, but still enamored of life’s splendor.”
"Richly-layered and packed with insight, this riveting account of terrible events tells us as much about the present as it does the past.”
"The story of the siege of Leningrad is one of the great epics of modern history. It has been told many times before, but never in such an engrossing, moving, often horrifying but also uplifting way.”
