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Born Under a Lucky Star cover art

Born Under a Lucky Star

By: Ivan Philippovich Makarov, Anastasia Walker - foreword and translator
Narrated by: Daniel Henning
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Summary

As a Russian recruit in World War II, Ivan Makarov witnessed General Chuikov pull out his pistol and shoot their regimental commander as a traitor. That was on his first day at the front. Thrown into an open field to face German tanks and artillery fire, with only rifles and machine guns to defend themselves with, almost 2,000 men of his regiment were wiped out in only six days at the Eastern Front. At this rate, Ivan struggled to comprehend how he would survive the hundreds of battles that lay before him, with death seeming to be the only certainty.

In his raw and trenchant memoir, Ivan recounts the terror and despair faced by a Red Army soldier on the Eastern Front. He has no sympathy for Stalin and his incompetent commanders, who sought awards and recognition at the expense of their soldiers' lives. He simply wanted to serve his country.

It is rare to find firsthand accounts of the Great Patriotic War from Red Army soldiers, as many did not survive to tell the tale. For the first time, Ivan reveals his gripping recollections of battles, times, places, and people encountered throughout World War II, from when he was drafted in 1941 until their victory in 1945. These recollections he dared not put on paper until 1992.

©2020 Anastasia Walker (P)2022 Tantor

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Selective but interesting account

I was interested in a Russian account written post Cold War so it was honest. His story is interesting and provides insights into a heroic and tragic experience. However, it feels like sections of his story are missing - the personal reflections, feelings and descriptions that make you connect are lacking. Some of this is due to the cultural age of the writer I guess but the epilogue actually references lots of experiences the author left out of the book and criticisms the family received for inclusion of others. Accordingly it wasn’t quite what I wanted in a warts and all account from the soviet soldiers perspective, because it feels like so much was held back, but it’s pretty still an interesting listen and we’ll narrated.

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