Episode 5

An extraordinary oral history of Russian Women's experiences in the Second World War.

In the late 1970s, Svetlana Alexievich realised that she had grown up surrounded by women who had fought in the Second World War, but whose voices were absent from official narratives. She said out to write her first book to document their stories.

Travelling thousands of miles, Svetlana spent years interviewing hundreds of Soviet women - captains, tank drivers, snipers, pilots, nurses and doctors - who had experienced the war on the front lines, on the home front and in occupied territories. As it brings to light their most harrowing memories, this symphony of voices reveals a different side of war, a new range of feelings, smells and colours.

Read by Sarah Badel, Teresa Gallagher and Jane Whittenshaw.

Written by Svetlana Alexievich.
Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.
Abridged by Sara Davies

Producer: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.