Why a Booktrail?
WW2: ‘There they stood, bumbling into lines with a bit of difficulty: Mother Finland’s chosen sacrifice to world history’
Unknown Soldiers
What you need to know before your trail
Unknown Soldiers follows the fates of a ramshackle troupe of machine-gunners in the Second World War, as they argue, joke, swear, cadge a loaf of bread or a cigarette, combat both boredom and horror in the swamps and pine forests – and discover that war will make or break them. One of Finland’s best-loved books, this gritty and unromantic depiction of battle honours the dogged determination of a country and the bonds of brotherhood forged between men at war, as they fight for their lives.
Travel Guide
The Continuation War between the Soviet Union and Finland during WWII
This book highlights and follows the birth of Finland as a free country
From historical accounts of the various battles and the will to protect the land from the greedy Russians, this small country made up for in energy and determination what it lacked in size.
Barracks rose along the edges of the clearing, which itself had been leveled into a training ground. …Maikinen was a soldier now too – ot would have to suffice….The gaping jaws of history were waiting.”
This is the gritty and raw reality of that struggle, that continuous struggle for freedom and the descriptions of the fights are hard to even imagine. When the soldiers are moved on they ask where they are going “The depths of hell, I guess?”
The war:
What greater honour than dying in battle, valiant guardian of your nation’s land. That was how Finnish schools tried to cultivate the chest-beating bravado into something a bit more respectable.”
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Unknown Soldiers
Destination : Finland Author/Guide: Väinö Linna Departure Time: WW2
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
