The Liberators

A sharply observed and often darkly ironic portrayal of life in the Soviet Army, this work draws on the author’s own experience as a tank officer. Set against the backdrop of the Red Army’s presence in Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring, it explores the mentality, discipline, and internal culture of a force that called itself “liberators” while enforcing Soviet control. Viktor Suvorov, a former Soviet military intelligence officer who later defected to the West, brings insider knowledge and a dissident’s eye to his depiction of military life, ideology, and power. Both memoir and critique, the book offers readers a rare, candid glimpse behind the façade of Soviet might and will interest those drawn to Cold War history and firsthand accounts from within closed regimes.