History That's More Than 2-Dimensional.

Mariya Oktyabrskaya

August 9, 2016

The Difference a Year Makes

I redid a lot of the early art in preparation for the book. Take a look and see the difference a year or two of practice makes.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko (1916-1974)

The Deadliest Female Sniper in History

When her beloved college of history was bombed by the Germans, this woman began a dark path that would see her become history's deadliest female sniper -- and one of Eleanor Roosevelt's best friends.

November 25, 2014 in Modern Worthies

Alexandra Boiko

Soviet tank girl

Along with her husband, Alexandra Boiko joined Mariya Oktyabrskaya in the "get permission from Stalin to buy her own tank and fight Nazis" club, which was apparently less exclusive than you'd think.

Mariya Oktyabrskaya (1905-1944)

The Tank-Driving Widow

When her husband was killed in WW2, she sold all their belongings, bought a tank, named it Fighting Girlfriend, and started killing Nazis.

The Night Witches (1942-1945)

The Civilian Pilots Who Became the Nazis' Worst Nightmare

This all-female civilian volunteer unit of the WW2 Soviet military overcame a lack of training, equipment, and faith to pull off one of the greatest underdog feats in human history and in so doing become Germany's worst nightmare.