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"The Unknown Soldier" by Vaino Linna
Review By Kari "scrmblerkari" Prager
First published in 1954.
First English translation published 1954.
My copy published in 1975.
First English translation published 1954.
My copy published in 1975.
This is a remarkable book. Written shortly after the end of WWII, it has been widely translated, and been adapted as a stage play, an opera and a film, "Tuntematon Sotilas", (available on DVD w/English & Swedish subtitles on eBay.). Linna worked on this book off and on through the war years, but did not finish it until 1954. In Finland, at least up to the 1975 print date of my copy, more Finns had read this book than any other except the Bible and their schoolbook of ABC's. This popularity, and the adaptation of the book to other forms, shows how accurately and unsentimentally Linna captures the experiences and personalities of the soldiers and officers serving in the Continuation War.
The plot of the book revolves around the story of a single Finnish machine gun company, from the successful early days of chasing the Russians across Karelia, to the desperate retreat, machine guns abandoned, as the Russians started chasing the Germans back to Berlin and turned their military might against the outnumbered, poorly equipped and disorganized Finns. At the end, hours before the ceasefire, there is one last successful Finnish attack, which succeeds in driving the Russians back from the old Finnish border, but the men are killed in vain, the fight is over, and the ceasefire comes at last as Finland negotiates a peace with the Russians and gives up even more territory than they had lost in the Winter War.
Linna's style does not romanticize the war experience in any way. He creates masterful characterizations of the men, ranging from the expert scrounger to the resigned fatalists, brave or not so brave, who make up the bulk of the company. And of course there are the rebellious eccentrics! The officers are clearly drawn, and range from the one who is close to his men and understands what is important, to his antithesis, a true believer in parade ground discipline, even amidst the dirt and danger of the trenches, but a poor leader of men.
The Continuation War had none of the romance for the Allies that the Winter War had generated. The Winter War had exhausted the best fighters, and Finland had won a moral victory even in defeat. In the Continuation War Finland was still fighting the Russians, but now, since it appeared that the Germans had the Russians nearly defeated, the Finns undertook a campaign to conquer Karelia, old Finnish territory that had been ceded to the Russians, and create a Greater Finland. This put them in an uneasy alliance with the Germans, and their fortunes rose and fell with those of Germany. At first the Finns advanced almost without resistance and were able to achieve their territorial aims, but with the disintegration of the German front, Russia was able to bring their terrible military might against Finland, and it was only a matter of time before the conquest of Karelia was reversed and they were forced to retreat to their old borders just as a ceasefire was being concluded.
This is not only a fascinating book if you want to experience the Continuation War through the eyes of Finnish infantrymen, it is also written to the highest literary standard and worth a read even if you are more interested in the rifles of the war than the war itself. There is no detail of the weapons used except in generic terms, but if you like a good read in military history the lack of specifics should not put you off from reading this novel. I got my copy from Abebooks, and you could probably find it on eBay or Alibris as well.
Collector's Comments and Feedback:
1. This book is available through Aamazon. Look in the top left corner of the screen and you'll see a white box titled "Search on Amazon". Type in the phrase The Unknown Soldier (don't use quotes), then you'll be taken to the Amazon site where you can buy the book. Assuming you are going to buy an item from Amazon anyway, if you simply click through to the specific Amazon page link for that item using that search box from here at MILSURPS.COM, we will receive a small commission directly from Amazon on the purchase you make. It costs you absolutely nothing and it's just another small way, for you to help us defray several thousand dollars in annual system bandwidth, server, disk storage and maintenance costs. Thank you, we appreciate your support. ....... (Feedback by "Badger")
"The Unknown Soldier" by Vaino Linna (click here)
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