About the Author

Lyuba Vinogradova (Author) Dr Lyuba Vinogradova was born in Moscow in 1973. After graduating from the Moscow Agricultural Academy with a PhD in microbiology, she took a second degree in foreign languages. In 1995 she was introduced to Antony Beevor and helped him research Stalingrad. Since then she has worked on many other research projects, and is the co-author (together with Beevor) of A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army.

Reviews

A gripping, unforgettable and heart-breaking story of female heroism in war and terror, written elegantly, filled with new research - archival and oral - and told here fully for the first time. Not just a tale of amazing derring-do, but a terrifying window into Stalinist Russia. Simply superb - Simon Sebag MontefioreSuperbly written and researched . . . Vinogradova takes her place in the top flight of Russian historians - Anna ReidWhat has been missing until now is a thoroughly researched account of all these pilots' wars, based on primary sources and stitched into the larger picture of the epic battle for what Hitler called the "world island" of central Russia. Defending the Motherland fills that void - The TimesBrings to light the fascinating story of the world's first and only all-female aviation regiments . . . Not for the first time, one can't help being flabbergasted by the heroic achievements of the poverty-stricken and hounded peoples of the USSR - Spectator[Vinogradova's] assiduous research, including numerous interviews with elderly veterans, has uncovered fascinating nuggets about the young female pilots' experience - Sunday TimesLyuba Vinogradova tells the poignant story of the determined young women who fought and died in the air above Stalingrad and elsewhere in the epic struggle to expel the German invaders from their country. It is an absorbing and meticulously researched accountRemarkable . . . Vinogradova tells the stories Russian pilots with verve - New StatesmanA feat of historical research and a wonderful, stirring read