To Besiege a City Audiobook By Prit Buttar cover art

To Besiege a City

Leningrad 1941–42

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

To Besiege a City

By: Prit Buttar
Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.63

Buy for $19.63

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel
Bloomsbury presents To Besiege a City by Prit Buttar, read by Leighton Pugh.

'[An] excellent account.' - Richard Overy, The Telegraph

Shortlisted for the Military History Matters Book of the Year Award 2024

A ground-breaking history of the siege of Leningrad, masterfully brought to life by a leading expert using original Russian and German source material.

Starting in September 1941, the Red Army and the civilian population of Leningrad endured a bitter 900-day siege, struggling against constant bombing, shelling, and starvation inflicted by the encircling Axis forces. The Soviets made repeated, but unsuccessful, bids to break German lines and reach the city, failing to end the siege but nevertheless defying the odds to construct and defend the ‘Road to Life’ over the frozen Lake Ladoga, across which meager supplies were transported to the embattled garrison. Although they defeated Russia’s Second Shock Army twice over, the German infantry divisions were also steadily eroded, their resources and morale depleted under the pressure of near-constant assaults and battles.

With To Besiege a City, Eastern Front historian Prit Buttar interweaves first-hand accounts with revelatory research to deliver the first major history of the siege of Leningrad in over a decade, expertly analyzing strategic failings on both sides while simultaneously detailing the horrific realities of daily life during a merciless war.©2023 Prit Buttar (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Europe Germany Military Military & War Russia Wars & Conflicts World War II Soviet Union Red Army War Siege Imperialism
Detailed Analysis • Compelling Narrative • Emotional Storytelling • Historical Depth • Engaging Research
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
The narration was brilliant. This story is grim, the subject difficult. Overall the book was well worth it. The good narration really helps. The sheer scale of the suffering were immense as were the might required to break the siege. I thought it was an important story told nicely

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Engrossing, well researched, and well told insight into the eastern front and the implications of the siege of St Petersburg.

Excellent Historical and Analysis!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The breadth of primary sources alone makes this worth a read, to say nothing of the analysis of the campaign.

Very in depth

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Worth the read and dispells many myths. Once again Pritt Buttar shines light on on of the most shrouded wars of the modern era.

Unbiased and Accurate

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Prit Buttar's command of primary source material again undergirds a well constructed narrative. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in the Eastern front of world war II

Another outstanding work by Buttar

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent research and narration. Detailed enough to acquire details of individual units without losing the reader with an overabundance of unit numbers, regiments, brigades, etc. 20 hours flew by. When the time came, I was surprised it was finished. I'm looking forward to a follow-up taking us beyond 1942.

Outstanding

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Pritt Buttar is it genius at making serious historical writing that is as detailed and well researched as it is engaging, emotional and compelling.

Balanced, detailed and utterly compelling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
With a detailed run-up of the importance of St. Petersburg to Russian history and the Soviet revolution, the story expands far beyond the siege of Leningrad proper. Starting with the German advance to the city, it includes the lunge to Volkhov, and the vicious battles at Lyuban in 1942. It’s a great tale of desperate defense, heartbreaking loss, and humanity attempting to survive a war of annihilation. A worthy addition to an already prodigious story.

An outstanding addition to his WWII Eastern Front Collection

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
this book shows the raw, true grit of war and the sadness and difficulty of fighting under two madmen, Hitler snd Stalin, who defined ruthlessness,

the true grit

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Amazing book that covers everything from Stalins purges to operation Barbarossa. Very detailed and well researched. It has almost nothing to do with the siege of Leningrad.

Great book. Poor choice of title.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews