Winter War Forgotten Images by Bair Irincheev
Winter War Forgotten Images by Bair Irincheev
“Winter War Forgotten Images” is a collection of unpublished images from the Soviet-Finnish Winter War of 1939-40. The book is 190 pages, hardcover and contains a unique collection of mostly unpublished photos many of them from the old Soviet archives, bunker blueprints and paintings. The photos and paintings really give a good idea of how the battlefields in Karelia really looked like at the time – as well as how it looks today. The paintings and the modern photos are in colour. The book also includes GPS coordinates for the featured bunkers – the joys of modern technology! The photos and paintings graphically illustrate what the Karelian battlefields looked like at the time.
For those wondering about reading the book, have no fear, it’s quadrilingual – in four languages, English, Russian, Finnish and Swedish. But be aware that the text is pretty much limited to captions for the photos. This is not a history of the Winter War – it’s a photo / art book, so you should be aware of this before you buy it. The english language text is good. Also be aware that the book focuses only on the Karelian Isthmus, there’s no photos from further north – the Salla and Petsamo sectors of the Winter War are not covered at all, neither are other sectors of the fighting, nor the large contingent of Swedish Volunteers.
Overall, the book is a “must have” for anyone interested in the Winter War. I can’t speak highly enough of it – and it’s well worth the cost. The photos are outstanding and the paintings reproduced in the book are well-chosen.
About the author: Bair Irincheev
Bair Irincheev
The author, Bair Irincheev, was born in 1977 in St Petersburg, is married to a Finn and lives in Helsinki. He is a keen re-enactor of the Winter War, and has created a website documenting the fortifications of the Mannerheim Line (www.mannerheim-line.com). Bair runs his own travel company in Helsinki, specialising in professionally-guided tours of old Winter War battlefields and sites in the former Soviet Union and Finland. He has written the outstanding Osprey book “The Mannerheim Line 1920-39: Finnish Fortifications of the Winter War (Fortress”) about the Finnish Army’s Mannerheim Line across the Karelian Isthmus.
Bair also served as a consultant for the outstanding PBS documentary film on the Winter War, “FIRE AND ICE: The Winter War of Finland and Russia.” Specializing as he does in professional tours of old Winter War battlefields and sites, Bair has a great deal of knowledge about the main battlefields of the Winter War fighting and has taken many tourists and some TV-teams to the most interesting WW2 sites in the region.
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