A review by internationalkris
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson

5.0

I thoroughly enjoyed the early-release copy of this book that I picked up at a library conference this summer. The narrative follows Shostakovich's childhood in Tsarist-Russia, through his coming of age during the revolution, then beyond that to life under Stalin's heavy-handed rule and finally the book centers on the devastation (and resilience) shown by the citizens of Leningrad during the longest siege in military history. An absolutely captivating look into an pivotal age of the Soviet era.