Kyiv

The gripping new thriller from Graham Hurley, KYIV is set against the backdrop of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler''s all-consuming invasion of the Soviet Union.
''Historical fiction of a high order'' The Times
''Original and compelling... The fear enveloping Kyiv as the Soviets flee radiates from every page'' Financial Times
On Sunday 22nd June 1941 at 03.05, three-and-a-half million Axis troops burst into the Soviet Union along a 1,800-mile front to launch Operation Barbarossa. The southern thrust of the attack was aimed at the Caucasus and the oil fields beyond. Kyiv was the biggest city to stand in their way.

Within six weeks, the city was under siege. Surrounded by Panzers, bombed and shelled day and night, Soviet Commissar Nikita Khrushchev was amongst the senior Soviet officials co-ordinating the defence. Amid his cadre of trusted personnel is British defector Bella Menzies, once with MI5, now with the NKVD, the Soviet secret police.