Buy ebook
Overview
A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR
WINNER OF THE PRIX JEAN GIONO
FINALIST FOR THE PRIX INTERALLIÉ
A bestselling, award-winning World War II novel about the heroism of a single Finnish infantry company — and the best sniper the world has ever seen — defending their country against the largest army in the world.
November 1939: the Soviet Union invades its tiny, relatively defenceless neighbour Finland, just three months after the declaration of World War II. So begins what is known as the Winter War. A small makeshift company of soldiers, workers, and farmers must face off against columns of tanks and Stalin’s Red Army fighters.
In this propulsive and deeply moving narrative based on the true story of the Finnish infantry division, heroes emerge: the star sniper Simo Häyhä, nicknamed the ‘White Death’; the young men from farms and villages who meet again on the battlefield to fight for their homes; and nurses who must treat old childhood friends. The soldiers go to battle with old guns as their wounds freeze in the unforgiving cold, and yet not only do they resist the Soviet soldiers, but they force the superpower to offer terms for peace only a few months later.
Drawing on the real-life figures and battles of the Finnish–Soviet Winter War, The Winter Warriors is a riveting, heart-pounding, epic historical thriller from one of Europe’s most acclaimed crime writers.
Details
- Format
- Size
- Extent
- ISBN
- RRP
- Pub date
- Rights held
- Paperback
- 234mm x 153mm
- 352 pages
- 9781761382147
- AUD$35.00
- 3 February 2026
- ANZ
Categories
Awards
- Winner of the 2024 Grand prix Jean Giono
- Shortlisted for the 2024 Prix Interallié
- Longlisted for the 2026 The HWA Non-Fiction Crown Award
Praise
‘A novel you will not put down. Maybe never.’
‘Olivier Norek’s novel conjures the majestic yet bleak wintry backdrop of Finland in World War II … The sense of glacial cold stalks through the pages … Translated from French, Norek’s novel brings to life an often-overlooked part of the war in all its futile carnage.’
About the Author
Olivier Norek spent eighteen years in the French police force before beginning to write crime fiction. Since then, his books have sold millions of copies and won many prizes. The Winter Warriors is his first historical novel. While researching the book, Norek spent three months (the duration of the war itself) in Finland, experiencing the –35°C conditions in which the war was fought and in which more than 130,000 Russian soldiers died before Finland and the Soviet Union signed a peace treaty in March 1940.
Translator
Nick Caistor is a translator, journalist, and author of nonfiction books. He has translated some forty books from Spanish and Portuguese, including those by Paulo Coelho, Eduardo Mendoza, Juan Marsé, and Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, and has twice been awarded the Valle-Inclán prize for Spanish translation. He has presented and produced many programs on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, and is a regular contributor to The Times Literary Supplement and The Guardian.
