The Unwomanly Face of War
An Oral History of Women in World War II
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Narrated by:
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Julia Emelin
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Yelena Shmulenson
About this listen
A long-awaited English translation of the groundbreaking oral history of women in World War II across Europe and Russia - from the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
“A landmark.” (Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century)
For more than three decades, Svetlana Alexievich has been the memory and conscience of the twentieth century. When the Swedish Academy awarded her the Nobel Prize, it cited her invention of “a new kind of literary genre,” describing her work as “a history of emotions...a history of the soul.”
In The Unwomanly Face of War, Alexievich chronicles the experiences of the Soviet women who fought on the front lines, on the home front, and in the occupied territories. These women - more than a million in total - were nurses and doctors, pilots, tank drivers, machine-gunners, and snipers. They battled alongside men, and yet, after the victory, their efforts and sacrifices were forgotten.
Alexievich traveled thousands of miles and visited more than a hundred towns to record these women’s stories. Together, this symphony of voices reveals a different aspect of the war - the everyday details of life in combat left out of the official histories.
Translated by the renowned Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, The Unwomanly Face of War is a powerful and poignant account of the central conflict of the 20th century, a kaleidoscopic portrait of the human side of war.
“But why? I asked myself more than once. Why, having stood up for and held their own place in a once absolutely male world, have women not stood up for their history? Their words and feelings? They did not believe themselves. A whole world is hidden from us. Their war remains unknown...I want to write the history of that war. A women’s history.” (Svetlana Alexievich)
Read by Julia Emelin, Yelena Shmulenson, Allen Lewis Rickman, and Alan Winter
THE WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
“[F]or her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time.”
“A mighty documentarian and a mighty artist... Her books are woven from hundreds of interviews, in a hybrid form of reportage and oral history that has the quality of a documentary film on paper. But Alexievich is anything but a simple recorder and transcriber of found voices; she has a writerly voice of her own which emerges from the chorus she assembles, with great style and authority, and she shapes her investigations of Soviet and post-Soviet life and death into epic dramatic chronicles as universally essential as Greek tragedies.” (The New Yorker)
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Remember Us is a look back at the lost world of the shtetl: a wise Zayde offering prophetic and profound words to his grandson, the rich experience of Shabbos, and the treasure of a loving family. All this is torn apart with the arrival of the Holocaust, beginning a crucible fraught with twists and turns so unpredictable and surprising that they defy any attempt to find reason within them. Through the eyes of 91-year-old Holocaust survivor Martin Small, we learn that these priceless memories that are too painful to remember are also too painful to forget.
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A Tragic and Rich Life, With Lessons For All
- By still reading on 03-17-16
By: Vic Shayne, and others
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Two Rings
- A Story of Love and War
- By: Millie Werber, Eve Keller
- Narrated by: Yelena Shmulenson, Eve Keller
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Trapped in Poland in 1941, like many Jews, Millie Werber went from the Radom Ghetto to slave labor in an armaments factory, survived Auschwitz, and toiled in a second factory until liberation came on April 1, 1945. She faced death many times but lived to marry a good man and fellow survivor. Meanwhile, she concealed a photograph in her closet and carried a secret in her heart.
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What a love story
- By Sbear on 11-19-18
By: Millie Werber, and others
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Behind Enemy Lines
- The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany
- By: Marthe Cohn, Wendy Holden
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Marthe Cohn was a young Jewish woman living just across the German border in France when Hitler rose to power. Her family sheltered Jews fleeing the Nazis, including Jewish children sent away by their terrified parents. But soon her homeland was also under Nazi rule. As the Nazi occupation escalated, Marthe's sister was arrested and sent to Auschwitz and the rest of her family was forced to flee to the south of France. Always a fighter, Marthe joined the French Army and became a member of the intelligence service of the French First Army.
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Amazing story of a fighter and survivor
- By Magalie Busch on 05-06-19
By: Marthe Cohn, and others
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William & Rosalie
- A Holocaust Testimony (Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Series)
- By: William Schiff, Rosalie Schiff, Craig Hanley
- Narrated by: Michael Fischbein
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1941, newlyweds William and Rosalie Schiff are forcibly separated and sent on their individual odysseys through a surreal maze of hate. Terror in the Krakow ghetto, sadistic SS death games, cruel human medical experiments, eyewitness accounts of brutal murders of men, women, children, and even infants, and the menace of rape in occupied Poland make William & Rosalie an unusually explicit view of the chaos that World War II unleashed on the Jewish people.
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Speachless, I wont forget this book
- By Shad on 12-17-14
By: William Schiff, and others
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Last Witnesses
- An Oral History of the Children of World War II
- By: Svetlana Alexievich, Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky
- Narrated by: Julia Emelin, Allen Lewis Rickman
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
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Bringing together dozens of voices in her distinctive style, Last Witnesses is Alexievich’s collection of the memories of those who were children during World War II. They had sometimes been soldiers as well as witnesses, and their generation grew up with the trauma of the war deeply embedded - a trauma that would change the course of the Russian nation. Collectively, this symphony of children’s stories, filled with the everyday details of life in combat, reveals an altogether unprecedented view of the war.
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And how many years to forget?
- By Darwin8u on 09-16-21
By: Svetlana Alexievich, and others
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Sapphire Skies
- By: Belinda Alexandra
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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2000: The wreckage of a downed WWII fighter plane is discovered in the forests near Russia's Ukrainian border.The aircraft belonged to Natalya Azarova, ace pilot and pin-up girl for Soviet propaganda, but the question of her fate remains unanswered. Was she a German spy who faked her own death, as the Kremlin claims? Her lover, Valentin Orlov, now a highly-decorated general, refuses to believe it. Lily, a young Australian woman, has moved to Moscow to escape from tragedy.
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A Disturbing Disappointment
- By Sara on 08-07-14
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Swansong 1945
- A Collective Diary of the Last Days of the Third Reich
- By: Walter Kempowski, Shaun Whiteside - translator
- Narrated by: Eric G. Dove, Christine Williams
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Swansong 1945 chronicles the end of Nazi Germany and World War II in Europe through hundreds of letters, diaries, and autobiographical accounts covering four days that fateful spring: Hitler's birthday on April 20, American and Soviet troops meeting at the Elbe on April 25, Hitler's suicide on April 30, and finally the German surrender on May 8.
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Important, Tragic, Poignant...
- By Amazon Customer on 07-31-15
By: Walter Kempowski, and others
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Slaughterhouse-Five
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: James Franco
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
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Don't Quit Your Daytime Job, James
- By Keith on 11-20-15
By: Kurt Vonnegut
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The Last of the Doughboys
- The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War
- By: Richard Rubin
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 20 hrs and 8 mins
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They were the final survivors of the millions who made up the American Expeditionary Forces, nineteenth-century men and women living in the twenty-first century. Self-reliant, humble, and stoic, they kept their stories to themselves for a lifetime, then shared them at the last possible moment so that they, and the war they won - the trauma that created our modern world - might at last be remembered. You will never forget them.
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Flawed But Worthwhile: History Buffs Should Get It
- By Jim on 01-12-14
By: Richard Rubin
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Roman's Journey
- An Extraordinary Odyssey of Holocaust Survival
- By: Roman Halter
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
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Roman Halter was a spirited, optimistic schoolboy in 1939 when he and his family gathered behind the curtains to watch the Volksdeutsche (German Polish) neighbors of their small town in western Poland greet the arrival of Hitler's armies with kisses and swastika flags. Within days, the family home had been seized, 12-year-old Roman had become a slave of the local SS chief, and, returning from an errand, he silently witnessed his Jewish classmates being bayoneted to death by soldiers at the edge of town. So began his remarkable six-year journey through some of the darkest caverns of Nazi Europe....
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Could not finish!!!!
- By Natalie Rohde on 02-23-16
By: Roman Halter
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The Secret Holocaust Diaries
- The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister
- By: Nonna Bannister, Denise George, Carolyn Tomlin
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gallagher
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
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For half a century, a terrible secret lay hidden, locked in a trunk in an attic... photos, official documents, and scraps of a diary written by a young girl. "The time has come when I must share my life story... some facts from the past that could make a contribution, however small it may be, to the history of mankind." The Secret Holocaust Diaries is a haunting eyewitness account of Nonna Lisowskaja Bannister, a remarkable Russian-American woman who saw and survived unspeakable evils as a young girl.
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I respect Nonna
- By Susan on 12-26-11
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We Band of Angels
- The Untold Story of the American Women Trapped on Bataan
- By: Elizabeth M. Norman
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
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We Band of Angelsis the story of women searching for adventure, caught up in the drama and danger of war. On the same day the Japanese Imperial Navy launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, it also struck American bases in the Far East, chief among them the Philippines. That raid led to the first major land battle for America in World War II and, in the end, to the largest defeat and surrender of American forces.
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A very moving tribute!
- By mark nelsen on 05-17-17
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The Sojourn
- By: Andrew Krivak
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The Sojourn is the story of Jozef Vinich, who was uprooted from a 19th-century mining town in Colorado by a family tragedy and returns with his father to an impoverished shepherd’s life in rural Austria-Hungary. When World War One comes, Jozef joins his adopted brother as a sharpshooter in the Kaiser’s army, surviving a perilous trek across the frozen Italian Alps and capture by a victorious enemy. A stirring tale of brotherhood, coming-of-age, and survival, this novel evokes a time when Czechs, Slovaks, Austrians, and Germans fought on the same side while divided by language, ethnicity, and social class.
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Interesting but somehow less than satisfying
- By Kathy on 03-13-13
By: Andrew Krivak
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Doctor Zhivago
- By: Boris Pasternak, Larissa Volokhonsky - translator, Richard Pevear - translator
- Narrated by: John Lee
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In celebration of the 40th anniversary of its original publication, here is a new translation of the classic story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago’s love for the tender and beautiful Lara.
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Russian Philosophical Feast
- By Syd Young on 02-16-13
By: Boris Pasternak, and others
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In June 1941, when Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, Lyudmila Pavlichenko left her university studies and ignored the offer of a position as a nurse to become one of Soviet Russia's 2,000 female snipers. Less than a year later, she had 309 recorded kills, including 29 enemy sniper kills. She was withdrawn from active duty after being injured. She was also regarded as a key heroic figure for the war effort.
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What listeners say about The Unwomanly Face of War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- SK
- 09-04-17
Amazing historical book - well done!
Would you consider the audio edition of The Unwomanly Face of War to be better than the print version?
Yes - hearing the Russian accented narration made the stories even more realistic.
Any additional comments?
Well worth a listen! The Soviet Union payed a terrible price in lives in that war and it is seldom recognized. These ladies are an amazing part of that story that is even less known. Their descriptions of wanting to fight, how poorly prepared the male dominated military was for women in their ranks, and how females in combat were treated during and after the war are both tragic and inspiring. Hats off to the author for bringing these stories to light, and hats off to the women who shared their stories and what they sacrificed during that war.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Tom Barreiros
- 09-07-18
An inspiring story of Soviet Women at War
This is a deeply ennobling and inspiring, if at times harrowing, account of Soviet women at war. The narration is authentic to the times, with the accent emphasized. It makes it seem like you are actually listening to Russian, Ukrainian, and Soviet women tell about their experiences. There are lots of great individual stories found in this book. Its tragic and heartbreaking, but worth the read.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Elizabeth
- 09-07-17
Listened two times in a row.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This book is amazing. Not only did I learn about the participation of Soviet women during WW2, this book evokes the very personal experiences of the women without being overly sentimental. I highly recommend this book.
Which character – as performed by Julia Emelin and Yelena Shmulenson – was your favorite?
There was a passage where a woman pleads with her commander to be able to take her husband's body back home to be buried. She speaks about the need to bury him because she will have nothing after the war except his grave. Her family had been killed by the Germans, she had no children and their home was burned down. It was a very moving passage and I cried both times that I listened to it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Lilian M.
- 04-06-18
Immersive and Devastating
I alternated between being mesmerized, repulsed, heavy with sorrow, and uplifted by the accounts of the women who suffered through the horrors of war on the battleground and behind the scenes. The uncomfortable truth yet aching humanity in every story kept me tied to this audiobook for weeks. I had to pace myself between some of the more horrifying stories. But, at the same time, I am grateful to Svetlana for putting these powerful stories to paper. They are stunning reminders that war, glorified in victory stories and decorations, has a horrible side of hatred, death, and suffering, but human kindness and beauty can still find its way through.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Tasha
- 03-17-21
Sad
Such a heart breaking book! I listened to it and loved the stories and the use of different womens voices. I didn’t understand the structure of the book for a while, but once I got the hang of it, I was able to go with the flow. Those Russians don’t mess around!
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- amber guerra
- 08-17-22
Can You Imagine?
Possibly one of the most important pieces of literature I’ve ever read. Svetlana Alexievich takes care to intertwine the harrowing accounts with the heartfelt ones. That there are heartfelt ones at all among such horror is a blessing. My heart breaks for these women, and I can only hope that their stories continue to be passed on so that no one forgets their sacrifice. A must read for anyone interested in history, especially history that is buried and ignored.
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- Kindle Customer
- 10-03-17
Remarkable Stories by a Gifted Story Teller
This is the second captivating book by this author that I have read. Personal accounts from women who fought as Soviet snipers and artillery personnel as well as from women medics and nurses in WWII are poignant and often heartbreaking. It would be interesting to hear contemporary women who serve in the military compare their experiences to those of Soviet women who fought 75 years ago.
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- David
- 07-08-19
Masterpiece
I am old enough to have read many hundreds of books on World War 2. Everyone in the world should read this one. There is a reason why this book underpins a Nobel Prize. I believe the performance does justice to the greatness of this work.
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- Gudmundur Hardarson
- 06-27-23
Impactful
When reading books the danger is that they start to all sound a bit like a copy of a copy. That's why I'm supremely partial towards unique books that bring me new truths and experiences I have not previously encountered. This is one such book.
"The Unwomanly Face of War" offers a factual and comprehensive account of women's experiences during World War II. The book presents testimonies gathered through extensive research, shedding light on women's contributions during the war.
The narrative explores women's roles and challenges throughout the conflict in a straightforward manner. The author maintains an objective tone, allowing readers to form their own interpretations and connections with the testimonies. And what horrific testimonies, and so, so many, they just hit you wave after wave. And so many of them were still in their teens during the war, children even. Some offer very different experiences while others support each other in how they describe the same things from multiple testimonials.
The book highlights the resilience and sacrifices made by these women without resorting to sentimentality or embellishment. At times it is surprising, and often unsettling, this is obviously not an easy or pleasant read. It provides an objective perspective on the realities of war. Reading the multiple accounts from Ukrainian women also hits you pretty hard considering that war is once again destroying lives there.
I must emphasize the profound and unsettling nature of the testimonies while acknowledging the variety and consistency found within them. The reader encounters a multitude of perspectives and narratives, even humor at times, like the accounts of how "girls will be girls". Creating a mosaic of accounts that collectively contribute to a deeper understanding of the subject matter.
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- Darwin8u
- 01-13-20
Happiness is beyond the mountains, but grief ...
“Happiness is beyond the mountains, but grief is just over the shoulder”
― Svetlana Alexievich, War's Unwomanly Face
“There can't be one heart for hatred and another for love. We only have one, and I always thought about how to save my heart.”
― Svetlana Alexievich, War's Unwomanly Face
Amazing on several levels. Through a chorus of female voices Alexievich brings a new set of eyes to World War II. The experience of Russian women, who fought as snipers, partisans, cooks, engineers, nurses, sappers, etc., during World War II paints the war (and all war) with a humanity and an emotional palette that seldom gets used when covering war. Amazing.
This book was originally published in 1985 under Glasnost. In the preface to this edition (and the preface is one of the best parts of a great book) Alexivich includes sections that she originally self-censored AND parts that were originally cut by Soviet sensors (as well as their comments). This 2017 English version was translated by Pevear & Volonkonsky, the married Russian translation powerhouse famous for their translations of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.
Like Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812, Alexivich is interested not in big dates, big events, big players. She is interested in the female experience. Her narrative style combines many voices thematically from chapter to chapter (roughly as WWII progresses) to deal with leaving to war, fighting in war, and returning home. Occasionally, she will spend an extended amount of time with a particular sniper, nurse, or tanker whose narrative is fantastically compelling and seems to capture the spirit of those women. But mostly, she is happy to thread these multiple stories together into a narrative quilt that covers not only the female experience of war, but arguably humanity's experience, but the emotional experience that often gets left out of typical "big man" or "big event" histories.
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3 people found this helpful