In the winter of 1941-42 Leningrad experienced the worst famine ever to occur in a developed society. With all the land links to the rest of the Soviet Union cut by the German army, food supplies were reduced to starvation level. In a few months, over half a million people died. Thanks to the Road of Life across Lake Ladoga, supplies increased, but, with the siege lasting for 872 days, casualties among the weakened population continued to rise. Deaths in Leningrad would ultimately exceed those of any city in the Second World War.This book examines the nature and consequences of the conditions created by the German blockade of Leningrad between September 1941 and January 1944. Using declassified documents from Party and State archives in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as interviews with survivors, the authors have produced the most informed and detailed analysis to date of the impact of the siege on the health and the lives of the people of Leningrad.