Presented by the Russian and Eastern European Studies Network (REES). This is a hybrid event and will take place in-person in Watson Hall 217 and on Zoom. Please email history.events@queensu.ca for the Zoom link. 

Ian Garner will discuss his new book, Stalingrad Lives: Stories of Combat & Survival. In the fall of 1942, only the city of Stalingrad stood between Soviet survival and defeat as Hitler’s army ran rampant. With the fate of the USSR hanging in the balance, Soviet propaganda chiefs sent their finest writers into the heat of battle. Garner will explain how, in six months of terrifying work, these men succeeded in creating an enduring epic of Stalingrad. He will read from his new translation of a previously lost story by Vasily Grossman, the author of Life and Fate and Stalingrad.

Dr. Ian Garner is a graduate of the Universities of Bristol and Toronto and the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. His work on propaganda and narratives of war has been published in academic journals and publications including The Washington Post and The Globe & Mail.

The 45-minute discussion will be followed by a 15-minute Q&A moderated by Vassili Schedrin.