About the book: 2021 / Very often in books about war, people seem to be faceless extras in the battle of powers and leaders. In fact, behind every major event there are decisions and actions of specific individuals, their feelings and beliefs. The book by the famous expert on the history of World War II Oleg Budnitsky shows in close-up the people whose combined efforts led to the victory over Nazism. The author treats with equal interest both famous historical figures (Winston Churchill, the “siege Madonna” Olga Berggolts) and lesser-known, but no less heroic characters of the war era. Among them is Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Vinokur, who burst into the headquarters of Field Marshal Paulus to demand his surrender; young mortarman Vladimir Gelfand, whose only friend during the war was his diary; graduate of the pedagogical institute Georgy Slavgorodsky, who dreamed of writing, but became a military man, and many others. Oleg Budnitsky - Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor, director of the International Center for History and Sociology of the Second World War and its Consequences at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, author of numerous studies on the history of the 20th century.