Lady Death

The wartime memoir of Lyudmila Pavlichenko is a remarkable document: the publication of an English language edition is a significant coup. Pavlichenko was World War II's best scoring sniper and had a varied wartime career that included trips to England and America.In June 1941, when Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, she left her university studies, ignored the offer of a position as a nurse, to become one of Soviet Russia's 2000 female snipers.Less than a year later she had 309 recorded kills, including 29 enemy sniper kills. She was withdrawn from active duty after being injured. She was also regarded as a key heroic figure for the war effort.She spoke at rallies in Canada and the US and the folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote a song, 'Killed By A Gun' about her exploits. Her US trip included a tour of the White House with FDR. In November 1942 she visited Coventry and accepted donations of 4,516 from Coventry workers to pay for three X-ray units for the Red...

About the Author: Lyudmila Pavlichenko was one of the top scoring snipers of World War II with 309 recorded kills. She died on October 10th 1974.

About the Author: Martin Pegler was curator of firearms at the Royal Armouries for twenty years and during his career shoot almost every historic and current sniping rifle. He is the author of a dozen books about firearms, but specialises in the development sniper and technology of sniping. He lives in France with his wife.