The book of the famous military historian I.B. Moshchansky is dedicated to three rather dramatic episodes of World War II: the defense of the city of Odessa in the fall of 1941, the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad in January 1943 and the assault on Budapest, the capital of the last Nazi ally in Europe. All three chapters of the presented work are connected with the history of surrounded and blocked cities, which, by the will of fate, became the scene of an uncompromising struggle between the warring parties.