While this is not an actual history. It is certainly a very well told story.

It deals shamelessly with the problems of ordinary and extraordinary Russians trying to survive, fight and win while being hounded by their own oppressive regime.

Because the book deals allot with sexual material, I guess schools wouldn't recommend it to their students, but I think it's a great book for getting teenagers interested in Russian front WWII History, exactly because it deals with teenage sexuality honestly and doesn't give the dry impression of an officially sanctioned history.