I purchased this book after reading Grossman's tour de force Life and Fate. This work consists of random snippets from Grossman's notebooks and correspondence as he traveled with the Red Army from 1941-1945. These snippets are placed into historical and geographic context by the translators of his work.

At times, the text is captivating and at times horrifying. At others, it seems merely random and poorly organized. The chapter detailing the liberation of Treblinka and Grossman's interviews of the witnesses and survivors was chilling and was read into the record at the war crimes trials at Nuremburg.

All in all, this book is a worthwhile read for anyone having an interest in World War II, the Red Army and war in general. Casual readers may not enjoy the experience. ( )

Vasily Grossman was a Soviet patriot who was never allowed by Stalin to reach his potential as a writer and journalist. This book is a posthumous collection of his notebooks. I believe it to be the best personal account of the Soviet Everyman's struggles against the Nazis in the Great Patriotic War. Управляйте назад фашистским зверем ! ( )

Vasili Semenovich Grossman was a decorated Soviet military journalist best known in the West for his epic novel, Life and Fate (New York Review Books Classics). In 'A Writer at War' editors and translators Anthony Beevor (Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943), an esteemed historian and author in his own right, and Luba Vinogradova, follow Grossman's progression through the war by piecing together stories from his notebooks and writings. At times one would have liked a bit more context to be provided by Beevor, but that is a minor quibble.

Grossman, while still a loyal Communist at this point, managed to maintain a relatively objective viewpoint. He often pushed his editors to allow him to write stories they did not want written, in particular regarding the fate of the Jews in the Ukraine under German occupation and the role of the Ukrainians.

While at time the stories have to be stitched together from bits and pieces, `A Writer at War' is a gold mine and provides a rare view into the inner workings of the Soviet military and Soviet military journalism in particular. Grossman experienced the initial German onslaught and the Russian flight from it, Stalingrad, the tank battle at Kursk, and the death camps. The book includes an extensive article on the workings of the German death camp Treblinka. Earns the highest recommendation. ( )

A Writer at War by Vasily Grossman and edited by Anthony Beevor and Luba Vinogradova. The subtitle of the book is A Soviet Journalist with the Red Army 1941-1945. The book was really interesting because the editors did more than just translate. They also provived a narrative of events and connected Grossman's notebooks to the events of battle and troop movement. Grossman's account of Treblinka in the book is heartbreaking. I would recommend this book to readers who are interested in history and especially World War II. ( )

Having read Anthony Beevor's "Berlin The Downfall", my eye was drawn to this book, being as it is, a significant historial source for the Russian experience of the German invasion and its aftermath.

Grossman was despatched by his editors to the locations of most of the key events in the Russian war with Germany, and the book is particularly interesting because it runs right through from the invasion, to the defeat of Germany.

Grossman describes countless small events which fill in the broad picture with illuminating detail. He records the capture of a Russian deserter who tried to sneak back home in full peasants rags, but had the misfortune to be recognised by troops of his own unit. He met with brave peasant women who gave their all in order to survive the terrible events that came upon them. There are many stories of Russian military officers and men, snatches of conversation, descriptions of their appearance and behaviour, which all fill out the picture of "Ivan" and show their loyalty to their homeland - and their ignorance of how utterly their political masters were failing them thought lack of foresight and planning.

The book benefits from a fine commentary by Beevor - the diaries are not just edited, they are interpreted for us by a great historian who sets them in context and explains the background to the events, so that the book builds up to a complete history of the Russian war.

I highly recommend this book which reveals a compassionate and humanistic man who recorded the lives of "everyman" on the Russian front and enables us to understand more about the events of those terrible years. ( )