This book is a confession, a document, and a record of people's memory. More than 200 women share their stories, describing how young girls, who dreamed of becoming brides, became soldiers in 1941. Over 500,000 Soviet women participated alongside men in the Second World War, the most terrible conflict of the 20th century.

Women not only rescued and bandaged the wounded but also fired sniper rifles, blew up bridges, went on reconnaissance missions, and killed... They killed the enemy who, with unprecedented cruelty, attacked their land, homes, and children.

Soviet writer of Belarus, Svetlana Alexievich, spent four years working on this book, visiting over 100 cities, towns, settlements, and villages to record the stories and reminiscences of women war veterans.

The most important aspect of the book is not merely the front-line episodes but the heart-rending experiences of women during the war. Through their testimony, the past makes an impassioned appeal to the present, denouncing yesterday's and today's fascism.