Brandon M. Schechter

The Stuff of Soldiers

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The Stuff of Soldiers uses everyday objects to tell the story of the Great Patriotic War as never before. Brandon 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.
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552 printed pages
Original publication
2019
Publication year
2019
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Quotes

  • Jan Nohas quoted3 years ago
    Once the state ceased to promise existential and spiritual change with any credibility, it was left only with stuff.
  • Jan Nohas quoted3 years ago
    For the first three decades of Soviet power, mobilization had been the ethos that kept the project going,
  • Jan Nohas quoted3 years ago
    After all, they were reduced to the same set of objects, their everyday lives made uniform in the most literal sense.

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