The Liberators (Suvorov)
Encyclopedia
The Liberators by Viktor Suvorov
(original Russian
title: Освободитель) is a partly autobiographical description of life in the Soviet Army
during the 1960s and 1970s. Told through anecdote, it provides insight into the brutality of a military machine where soldiers are treated with no regard whatever.
The scenes include the organized sadism of the glasshouse, a massive “military exercise” put on purely to impress foreigners, and an eyewitness description of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia
. Daily life is dominated by the endless struggle of middle-ranking officers to impress their superiors, a struggle which does nothing whatever for military effectiveness or discipline but depends entirely on cunning and deceit.
The Liberators does not attempt to discuss Soviet doctrine, organization or equipment in any formal way; this is left to another book, Inside the Soviet Army. It does, however, provide an absorbing personal account for non-specialist readership.
Viktor Suvorov
Viktor Suvorov is the pen name for Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun , a former Soviet and now British writer of Russian and Ukrainian descent who writes primarily in Russian, as well as a former Soviet military intelligence spy who defected to the UK...
(original Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
title: Освободитель) is a partly autobiographical description of life in the Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
during the 1960s and 1970s. Told through anecdote, it provides insight into the brutality of a military machine where soldiers are treated with no regard whatever.
The scenes include the organized sadism of the glasshouse, a massive “military exercise” put on purely to impress foreigners, and an eyewitness description of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
. Daily life is dominated by the endless struggle of middle-ranking officers to impress their superiors, a struggle which does nothing whatever for military effectiveness or discipline but depends entirely on cunning and deceit.
The Liberators does not attempt to discuss Soviet doctrine, organization or equipment in any formal way; this is left to another book, Inside the Soviet Army. It does, however, provide an absorbing personal account for non-specialist readership.
- ISBN 0-241-10675-3; Hamish Hamilton, 1981.
- ISBN 0-393-01759-1; W W Norton.
- ISBN 0-425-10631-4; Berkley, 1998.