Russia's Heroes, 1941-1945

A journalist formerly stationed in Moscow, Albert Axell (Stalin's War, etc.) aims to raise some profiles with Russia's Heroes: 1941-45, his collected tales of wartime heroics by patriots defending the Motherland including Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, a highly literate young woman who fought with a guerrilla unit combating the Germans, and the ""Night Witch"" who belonged to a squadron of young women who flew risky starlight raids in open cockpit biplanes. While a mostly standard account, the names (otherwise mostly male) and exploits should will be unfamiliar except for that of Stalin's son, a Red Army lieutenant taken captive by a panzer unit. ( July)