Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Unwomanly Face of War / War’s Unwomanly Face | 1983 | Svetlana Alexievich | Buy |
| 2 | ليس للحرب وجه أنثوي | 1983 | Svetlana Alexievich | N/A |
| 3 | آخر الشهود | 1985 | Svetlana Alexievich | N/A |
| 4 | Zinky Boys | 1989 | Svetlana Alexievich | Buy |
| 5 | Voices from Chernobyl | 1997 | Svetlana Alexievich | Buy |
| 6 | Tschernobyl | 1997 | Svetlana Alexievich | N/A |
| 7 | Secondhand Time | 2016 | Svetlana Alexievich | Buy |
| 8 | Last Witnesses | 2019 | Svetlana Alexievich | Buy |
The Voices of Utopia cycle is Alexievich’s life’s work, five oral histories spanning fifty years of Soviet and post-Soviet experience. The Unwomanly Face of War (1983) was her first book, collecting the testimonies of Soviet women who fought in World War II as snipers, pilots, nurses, and partisans. Last Witnesses records the memories of people who were children during the same war.
Zinky Boys (1989) turns to the Soviet war in Afghanistan, named for the zinc-lined coffins in which soldiers’ bodies were shipped home. Voices from Chernobyl (1997) documents the lives of people affected by the 1986 nuclear disaster. Secondhand Time (2016 in English) is the final volume, an oral history of post-Soviet life that captures the confusion, nostalgia, and disillusionment of people adjusting to a world after communism. The listing includes Arabic and German editions alongside the English translations.