Joseph Pilyushin a top Red Army sniper in the ruthless fight against the Germans on the Eastern Front was an exceptional soldier & he has a remarkable story to tell. His first-hand account of his wartime service gives a graphic insight into his lethal skill with a rifle & into the desperate fight put up by Soviet forces to defend Leningrad. He also records how during the three-year siege close members of this family died including his wife & two sons as well as many of his comrades in arms. He describes these often-terrible events with such honesty & clarity that his memoir is remarkable. Piluyshin who lived in Leningrad with his family was already 35 years old when the war broke out & he was drafted. He started in the Red Army as a scout but once he had demonstrated his marksmanship & steady nerve he became a sniper. He served throughout the Leningrad siege from the late 1941 when the Wehrmachts advance was halted just short of the city to its liberation during the Soviet offensive of 1944. His descriptions of gruelling front-line life of his fellow soldiers & of his sniping missions are balanced by his vivid recollections of the protracted suffering of Leningrads imprisoned population & of the grief that was visited upon him & his family. His gripping narrative will be fascinating reading for any one who is keen to learn about the role & technique of the sniper during the Second World War. It is also a memorable eyewitness account of one mans experience on the Eastern Front. Joseph Pilyushin was a married man of 35 when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. He joined the Red Army serving in 14th Rifle Regiment of the 21st Division of the NKVD which later became the 602nd Rifle Regiment of 109th Rifle Division. He took part in defensive battles around Leningrad from July 1941 till January 1944 & his unit was involved in the Leningrad-Novgorod offensive of 1944 as part of the 42nd Army. Near Gdov he was severely wounded & he was eventually discharged. He lost his first wife & two sons during the conflict. His wartime memoir At the Gates of Leningrad was first published in Russian in 1965.