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Product Description 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 She was withdrawn from active duty after being injured.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 Army. She also visited a Birmingham factory as part of her fundraising tour. She never returned to combat but trained other snipers. After the war, she finished her education at Kiev University and began a career as a historian. She died on October 10, 1974 at age 58, and was buried in Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery. Review “Within a year after the launching of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s invasion of Russia in June 1941, a 24-year-old Kiev female history student enlisted in the Russian Army and became one of the deadliest military snipers of all times, in any army, in any war. Lady Death is Lyudmila Pavlichenko’s taut and gritty memoirs of the “most dangerous woman in the world,” who accumulated more than 500 confirmed or probable kills. Translated from the original Russian and based on her post-war notes and wartime diary, it is undoubtedly literature’s most remarkable account of sniper action.” Charles W. Sasser, former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier and author of One Shot-One Kill, Crosshairs on The Kill Zone, The 100th Kill, and many others. "Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the highest scoring female sniper to come out of the Red Army, provides an intimate portrayal of the struggles and obstacles Red Army combatants faced and overcame as the war on the Eastern Front unfolded. She not only proved herself on the field of battle, but also was one of the few Soviet citizens allowed to campaign for the war effort abroad and as such offers an additional, unique view of the west through a Soviet veteran's eyes." Yan Mann, Military Historian Lyudmila Pavlichenko’s skills with a rifle are matched in this magnificent memoir by her abilities as a writer. In clear, lively prose she describes how her pre-war enthusiasm for target shooting enabled her to become one of the Red Army’s most feared front-line snipers on the Eastern Front. Arguably the finest account of sniping during World War II. Adrian Gilbert, author of Challenge of Battle "For once, a sniper memoir that goes far beyond a catalogue of kills. Lyudmila Pavlichenko writes from the viewpoint of a trained historian, and so Lady Death -- in addition to being a very good read -- not only gives a broad perspective of the campaigns in which she fought but also the political background into which she had to blend." John Walter, author of Snipers at War 'Lyudmila Pavlichenko’s skills with a rifle are matched in this magnificent memoir by her abilities as a writer. In clear, lively prose she describes how her pre-war enthusiasm for target shooting enabled her to become one of the Red Army’s most feared front-line snipers on the Eastern Front. Arguably the finest account of sniping during World War II.’ Adrian Gilbert, author of Challenge of Battle "Lady Death is the author’s autobiography and memoir of her service in the “Great Patriotic War”. Pavlichenko gives us a sniper’s eye view of numerous fights, discourses on firearms and the craft of sniping, and her wartime romance and marriage th