The book starts and ends with a description of the performance under Karl Eliasberg of the 7th symphony, the ‘Leningrad symphony’, by Shostakovich on the 9th Aug. 1942 in the besieged city of Leningrad, encircled by the german army since the last land-route was cut on the 14. Sept. 1941. Experiences of citizen and soldiers, prominent and unknown, are described which they endured since the 22nd June 1941, the day the german invasion started. The author draws on published and archive sources; they are listed. An extensive Bibliography and Index is provided.
Stalin’s terror is drawn in vivid pictures. The NKVD activities : spying, arrests, torture and executions did not abate even when people were dying of starvation and cold in the streets. The narration switches frequently between the incredible suffering Leningrad’s citizens endured, to the front-line and the efforts to keep open the perilous supply line over Lake Ladoga by barges in summer, by lorry-convoys in winter. They were often sunk by enemy fire.

Shostakovich, his wife and children were evacuated the 1. October to Kuibyshev as the city of Samara on the Volga was then named. He finished there his 7th, the Leningrad symphony, that is inspired by the suffering, the endurance and hope of the people of Leningrad. The progress of the work and reactions to it are described. So as to perform this symphony expressing the spirit of defiance in the face of the enemy everything was mobilised. Never before or after was a concert staged under such conditions.

The book is vividly written and makes for fascinating reading. The one serious objection I have is that Moynahan equates Stalinism and Nazism, a common error of perception and judgement. The terror under Stalin was an exploitation of personal power by Stalin and the heads (Yezhov, Beria) as well as subaltern officers of the NKVD. Stalin was a ruthless dictator; anybody suspected - or just perceived - as a danger to his power he had killed or exiled to Siberia. His henchmen Yezhov and Beria were even worse.
Nazism was entirely different: it was a racist ideology that invented the idea of a superior ‘Aryan race’ while designating others, like Slavs, Romani, Jews, … as ‘subhuman’, i.e. ‘vermin’ to be enslaved or squashed and exterminated. Hitlers plan, had he won, was to raze Leningrad and Moscow to the ground and enslave any surviving population. 4* (X-21)

See also Slavoj Zizek http://www.lacan.com/zizbadman.htm on the distinction : Nazism - Stalinism :
Is the minimal difference in politics not the one between Nazism and Stalinism? In a letter to Herbert Marcuse from 20 January 1948, Heidegger wrote: "To the serious legitimate charges that you express 'about a regime that murdered millions of Jews...' I can merely add that if instead of 'Jews' you had written 'East Germans,' then the same holds true for one of the allies, with the difference that everything that has occurred since 1945 has become public knowledge, while the bloody terror of the Nazis in point of fact had been kept a secret from the German people." Marcuse was fully justified in replying that the thin difference between brutally ex-patriating people and burning them in a concentration camp is the line that, at that moment, separated civilisation from barbarism. One should not shirk from going even a step further: the thin difference between the Stalinist gulag and the Nazi annihilation camp also was, at that historical moment, the difference between civilisation and barbarism. ( )

Note to self: Another book, [b:Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad|24727079|Symphony for the City of the Dead Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad|M.T. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426255855l/24727079._SY75_.jpg|44353562] is more about the life of the composer so read that one, too.

This is a strong 3 star rating. An easy to read book of the seige of Leningrad along with the story of the arts scene and the music of Shostakovich who wrote his 7th symphony about and during the siege (although he had left the city by the time he started writing). It is a picture of the horror of a city attacked by a foreign invader and even more terrifyingly by its own government and secret police. It is amazing that Stalin can make Hitler almost look, well good is not the word, but maybe less insane. And I think about all my silly complaints. ( )

Brian Moynahan's Leningrad: Siege and Symphony is an interesting book in that it gives a good portrayal of life in Leningrad before and during the siege as well as a look at Dmitri Shostakovich.

What it did for me was bring to life some interesting aspects of life in Russia during this time

I have just finished Leningrad: Siege and Symphony - a well researched and compelling re telling of the siege of Leningrad during WWII (Ref: The 900 Days by Harrison E. Salisbury) and the concurrent creation and eventual playing of Shostakovich's 7th symphony - which immortalizes the siege.

Several things struck me about this story:

1- the strength and perseverance of the Russian people. Through unbelievable hardships imposed upon them by their own, pervasively corrupt government led by Stalin; attack by the Nazi war machine; and mass starvation, the Russian people were survivors. Critics would point out the rampant cannibalism which occurred in Leningrad - and the numerous examples of criminal and selfish behavior exhibited by some of the survivors. While no one can condone these acts, we must ask ourselves - what would we do to survive? to extend the possibility of life for our children? Through it all, the indomitable spirit of the Russian people shines through.

2- the insanity of the Soviet system - and the Stalinist regime. We vaguely know that Stalin was a bad leader (maybe the worst in history) - few understand the depths of brutality and insanity foisted upon his own people. Throughout the book, examples of people - especially the intelligentsia - artists and scientist - were accused of being "anti-revolutionary" or "defeatist" - were taken by the NKVD (predecessor of the KGB), tortured until they "gave up" the names of other Russians who were "anti-Soviet" or "counter-revolutionary" - and then were subsequently shot.

This time frame is referred to as The Terror. (Reminiscent of the Reign of Terror in France). The futility of the Russian military at the beginning of the war can be largely traced to the work of the NKVD, which purged the Russian military of thousands of officers who were deemed untrustworthy - not loyal to the Communist party. These were men who had earned numerous distinctions during WWI and in other actions - and some of which had previously been rewarded the title (and award) Hero of the Soviet Union. The book relates the story of a military officer who was in jail (suspected of being anti-Soviet) - who the day before he was to be executed, was pulled out of jail - promoted to Major General and placed in charge of training new recruits!!!

The depth of the insanity foisted on the military and the civilian population is astounding. The NKVD was the predecessor of the KGB. Even today the best path to political success and power in Russia is through the (former) KGB. Example; the current premier - V. Putin.

When I visited Moscow in May 2013 (with IAQG) as we visited Red Square, we were told to not make any loud noises, or laugh or sing, because those actions could be interpreted as being anti - Putin. So the spirit of repression is live and well in modern day Russia.

Of course the hypocrisy and utter depravity of the loyal party members is displayed. An example was one day at a local bath an obese man was bathing next to the skeletons of the starving Leningraders when they asked him how he was so fat. He replied that he was a baker at a party commissary. So the party big wigs were getting fat while the city literally starved.

3- The ability of music to move the Russian people. The reaction of the world and the Russian people to Shostakovich's Seventh was remarkable. The story of how they found 80 musicians in devastated Leningrad to play this very demanding work, is amazing. The impact of the piece was that the world recognized that Russia was not out of the war, that the Russian people would not quit. The symphony also helped convince the world that Russia was a country of enlightenment and progress - which of course was the opposite of the truth.

What this book did for me was to fill in a chapter of my understanding of WWII and Operation "Barbarossa" - the German attack on Russia - with a greater depth of understanding as to how the Russians survived the onslaught. And it reinforced to me how critical motivation and patriotic spirit is to people under duress. It made me realize that one does not destroy a people by killing them - that unless their spirit is crushed, they can survive. ( )