Rating: 
Summary: An indepth and thrilling account
Review: What makes historical books such as these work, are the vignettes and character sketches not only of individuals but groups of people. The Finnish courage and sense of humor, the sad pitiful state of Soviet soldiers, the Soviet's inhumanity and indifference to its own people, the waffling and Realpolitik of Western nations, the indepedence of Mannerheim, all come through in Trotter's writing. The stories of Soviet soldiers trapped in barbed wire calling out to Stalin, the night-time hunter-seeker raids by pairs of Finns, the foolish tactics of the Soviets who would push their tanks far ahead of the troops and allow the Finns to ignore the tanks and slaughter the unprotected troops, the snow un-drinkable because of artillery contamination...I guess I was a little disappointed that the "ski attacks" weren't as prevalent as I had believed. One of the most visual scenes in WWII combat is the image of camoflauged Finns sweeping through trees w/ submachine guns blowing away Soviets, but the book tells of other Finnish tactics that were more successful (and realistic), such as the nighttime raid that forced the Soviets to get into a firefight w/ themselves. An excellent book on guerilla warfare in the snow and ice.
Rating:
Summary: Concise, Detailed & Unbiased Account
Review: William Trotter's A Frozen Hell does a great job of detailing the events leading up to, and the battles during, the Russo-Finnish Winter War of '39-'40.
Trotter spent a lot of time in Finland doing detailed research for this book and it shows. His writing style is very concise and detailed without being drab. Battle accounts are well written with detailed maps to aid the reader in getting their bearings on locations described therein.
It deals mostly from the Finnish perspective, but this is done in a very balanced and unbiased way, detailing mistakes made by both sides in the conflict, and giving us a well rounded view.
A great book that I heartily recommend to anyone interested in learning about this interesting and engaging conflict that has been given very little coverage by Western Historians.
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