Stuff of Soldiers - (Battlegrounds: Cornell Studies in Military History) by Brandon M Schechter

About the Book

"This book tells the story of the Great Patriotic War via objects from spoons to tanks. It was the uniform world of material goods that united diverse soldiers in the ranks of the Red Army and was often all that separated civilians from soldiers"--

Book Synopsis

The Stuff of Soldiers uses everyday objects to tell the story of the Great Patriotic War as never before. Brandon M. Schechter attends to a diverse array of things--from spoons to tanks--to show how a wide array of citizens became soldiers, and how the provisioning of material goods separated soldiers from civilians.

Through a fascinating examination of leaflets, proclamations, newspapers, manuals, letters to and from the front, diaries, and interviews, The Stuff of Soldiers reveals how the use of everyday items made it possible to wage war. The dazzling range of documents showcases ethnic diversity, women's particular problems at the front, and vivid descriptions of violence and looting.

Each chapter features a series of related objects: weapons, uniforms, rations, and even the knick-knacks in a soldier's rucksack. These objects narrate the experience of people at war, illuminating the changes taking place in Soviet society over the course of the most destructive conflict in recorded history. Schechter argues that spoons, shovels, belts, and watches held as much meaning to the waging of war as guns and tanks. In The Stuff of Soldiers, he describes the transformative potential of material things to create a modern culture, citizen, and soldier during World War II.

Review Quotes

The Stuff of Soldiers has much to offer those with an affinity for cultural history studied through objects and for others who want a basic introduction to the quotidian of the Red Army during the Second World War... it takes the reader into the daily life of the Soviet soldier during the war in a way that no other work in the field does.

-- "The Russian Review"

The Stuff of Soldiers is a well-written, wide-ranging, novel approach for understanding the social and military history of the Soviet Army. [It] is an excellent addition to the historiography of the Great Patriotic War and to the general study of how material culture can reflect how soldiers and their societies have experienced war throughout time.

-- "Journal of Military History"

A beautifully written, sweeping and nuanced history of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War through the lens of objects and material culture. The Stuff of Soldiers is not only a major contribution to the history of the war; it is also a stimulating attempt to overcome disciplinary boundaries and long-lasting debates about the Soviet project through an ethnographic focus on objects and practices of everyday life.

-- "Cahiers du monde russe"

Brandon Schechter has written a tour-de-force volume that presents an innovative approach to the history of the Second World War in the Soviet Union. [O]ne of the main contributions of this work is Schechter's success in offering a new and fresh analysis of these sources from the perspective of material culture.

-- "English Historical Review"

Few, if any, thinkers have sought to view [the materiality of the human being] through the prism of an army, its weaponry, the environment it shaped and the objects its soldiers used, cherished or robbed. Brandon M. Schechter is the first to embark upon this intellectual adventure.

-- "The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies"

Given the author's lively and accessible style this is surely a work that will reach an audience outside of academia, while the deeply-researched and insightful content equally makes it an invaluable addition to scholars of both the Soviet Union and those interested more broadly in the history and legacies of the Second World War.

-- "British Journal for Military History"

Schechter elegantly intertwines individual stories, context, and analysis taking the reader to the most intimate parts of soldiers' everyday lives. The interested audience of this work will be very large, spanning individuals interested in military history broadly defined, in the history of the Soviet Union, and in material culture.

-- "Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society (JSPPS)"

Schechter's ability to analyze the everyday minutiae of soldiers' lives to tell both personal stories of what it meant to be a member of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War with careful attention placed on differing perspectives based on class, gender, and nationality, and a broader narrative of state-directed (if not always followed) social transformation is inspiring.

-- "Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia"

This book will be of interest not only to students and scholars of Soviet history and World War II but also to everyone interested in the experience of life during wartime.

-- "Canadian Slavonic Papers"

With this original approach--in itself an amazing achievement given the immense literature in this historical field--Brandon Schechteruses the material culture of the Red Army to trace the makeover of Soviet life and politics brought about by the war.

-- "Foreign Affairs"

About the Author

Brandon M. Schechter has taught at Columbia, New York University, NYU Shanghai, Brown, and the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his PhD. He is a contributor to Objects of War, edited by Leora Auslander and Tara Zahra.