A Frozen Hell

the long version

This is a book of battles -- savagely fought, often with great heroism on both sides, under brutal, subarctic conditions. Guerrillas on skis, heroic single-handed attacks on tanks, unfathomable endurance, and the charismatic leadership of one of this century's true military geniuses -- these were the elements of Finland's short-lived victory. For all the epic resistance of the Finns, the outcome was foreordained. Belatedly the Russians realized that an expected easy triumph over a vastly outnumbered foe had become a slaughterhouse. Incompetent commanders were replaced, more and better troops were moved into position, and orders were given to overwhelm and crush the Finns by the sheer weight of massed numbers. But even though they lost on the battlefield, the Finns' pointed resistance kept the Iron Curtain from drawing closed around their land and allowed Finland to remain free, even as other countries fell one by one. - Back cover.