'[An] excellent account.' - Richard Overy, The Telegraph

Shortlisted for the Military History Matters Book of the Year Award 2024

A ground-breaking history of the siege of Leningrad, masterfully brought to life by a leading expert using original Russian and German source material.

Starting in September 1941, the Red Army and the civilian population of Leningrad endured a bitter 900-day siege, struggling against constant bombing, shelling, and starvation inflicted by the encircling Axis forces. The Soviets made repeated, but unsuccessful, bids to break German lines and reach the city, failing to end the siege but nevertheless defying the odds to construct and defend the ‘Road to Life’ over the frozen Lake Ladoga, across which meager supplies were transported to the embattled garrison. Although they defeated Russia’s Second Shock Army twice over, the German infantry divisions were also steadily eroded, their resources and morale depleted under the pressure of near-constant assaults and battles.

With To Besiege a City, Eastern Front historian Prit Buttar interweaves first-hand accounts with revelatory research to deliver the first major history of the siege of Leningrad in over a decade, expertly analyzing strategic failings on both sides while simultaneously detailing the horrific realities of daily life during a merciless war.

[An] excellent account. -- Richard Overy * The Telegraph *
This is another masterly account by this excellent Osprey author, covering the first year of the siege of Leningrad. * Miniature Wargames *
Buttar's meticulous and even-handed research leaves no stone unturned. * History of War *
Brings to life a dark chapter of World War II history that ought to never be forgotten. * Morning Star *
This will surely become the definitive reference work on the Siege of Leningrad. * Classic Military Vehicle *

Prit Buttar is an expert on the Eastern Front in the 20th century. His previous books include the acclaimed Battleground Prussia: The Assault on Germany's Eastern Front 1944-45 (Osprey, 2010) and Between Giants: The Battle for the Baltics in World War II (Osprey, 2013). Prit originally studied medicine at Oxford and London before joining the British Army as a doctor. He latterly worked as a General Practitioner for several years, and now writes exclusively from his home in rural Scotland.