City of Thieves
From the critically acclaimed author of The 25th Hour, a captivating novel about war, courage, survival — and a remarkable friendship that ripples across a lifetime. During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible. By turns insightful and funny, thrilling and terrifying, City of Thieves is a gripping, cinematic World War II adventure and an intimate coming-of-age story with an utterly contemporary feel for how boys become men.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about City of Thieves
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
In besieged 1941 Leningrad, a teenage thief and a deserter Red Army writer face execution until a colonel offers them a trade: bring him a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake within a week, and live.
City of Thieves is presented as a fictional retelling of the author's grandfather's experiences during the Siege of Leningrad. David Benioff has said the framing is a literary device, and the novel is essentially fiction inspired by family lore.
Yes. David Benioff is best known as co-creator of HBO's Game of Thrones. City of Thieves was published in 2008 before the show premiered. He has continued writing fiction and television since.
City of Thieves was written by David Benioff, published in 2008 by Forum.
City of Thieves is 297 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, City of Thieves takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
City of Thieves is a standalone novel by David Benioff, not part of a series.
City of Thieves is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.