"The year 2010 marked the 70th anniversary of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union. It is traditionally called the 'Winter War' in the West, while in the former USSR it is called the 'Finnish War' or the 'Soviet-Finnish War' ... I would ... like to give the view from both the Soviet and the Finnish sides. It is also crucial for me to make voices of ordinary soldiers from the Winter War heard. It is not possible to give a comprehensive description of each battle and skirmish that was fought along a front of over 1,300 kilometres. Some battles will be described in brief, some in the greatest possible detail ... In this book, the campaign on land is stressed ... Whenever possible, descriptions of battles are augmented by memories of veterans from both sides. It is widely known that the war was fought in extreme winter conditions, but it is important to know what that felt like for rank-and-file soldiers of both sides"--Preface.