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Life and Death in Ukraine
by Christopher Miller
A breathtaking exploration of Ukraine's past, present, and future, and a heartbreaking account of the war against Russia, written by the leading journalist of the conflict.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine just before dawn on 24 February 2022, it marked his latest and most overt attempt to brutally conquer the country, and reshaped the world order. Christopher Miller, the Ukraine correspondent for the Financial Times and the foremost journalist covering the country, was there on the ground when the first Russian missiles struck and troops stormed over the border. But the seeds of Russia's war against Ukraine and the West were sown more than a decade earlier.
This is the definitive, inside story of its long fight for freedom. Told through Miller's personal experiences, vivid front-line dispatches and illuminating interviews with unforgettable characters, The War Came To Us takes readers on a riveting journey through the key locales and pivotal events of Ukraine's modern history. From the coal-dusted, sunflower-covered steppe of the Donbas in the far east to the heart of the Euromaidan revolution camp in Kyiv; from the Black Sea shores of Crimea, where Russian troops stealthily annexed Ukraine's peninsula, to the bloody battlefields where Cossacks roamed before the Kremlin's warlords ruled with iron fists; and through the horror and destruction wrought by Russian forces in Bucha, Bakhmut, Mariupol, and beyond.
With candor, wit and sensitivity, Miller captures Ukraine in all its glory: vast, defiant, resilient, and full of wonder. A breathtaking narrative that is at times both poignant and inspiring, The War Came To Us is the story of an American who fell in love with a foreign place and its people - and witnessed them do extraordinary things to escape the long shadow of their former imperial ruler and preserve their independence.
"A penetrating account of the reality of Putin's war on Ukraine... With powerful stories and insightful background, Miller provides a human dimension to a bloody conflict." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"War correspondent Miller's heart-pounding debut describes in gritty detail the frontline fighting and key events preceding Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine…this is frontline reporting at its finest." ―Publishers Weekly
"Written with love, respect, and the critical eye of a reporter, the book evinces deep
dedication to an adopted homeland... The War Came to Us is a detailed, personal, and engaging account of recent transformative events in Ukraine's history." ―Foreword Reviews
"Christopher Miller has been an indispensable guide to what's been really happening in Ukraine for a decade or more, and his writing has helped show the world the true face of a country that is too often lied about." ―Oliver Bullough, bestselling author of Butler to the World, Moneyland and The Last Man in Russia
"When I want to know what is happening in Ukraine, I turn first to Chris Miller's reporting. Whether it's the latest information from the front lines of Russia's war against Ukraine, insightful analysis on political manoeuvrings in Kyiv, or understanding into what the average Ukrainian is thinking about current events, Miller always has the inside track. Now in his riveting book The War Came to Us, this foremost expert on the region takes us back over the last 12 years, providing the history, the culture and the context to help us understand where Ukraine is today and what might come next. A must-read for those who want to get beyond the headlines." ―Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and author of The New York Times bestseller Lessons From The Edge: A Memoir
"Christopher Miller knows Ukraine with unmatchable depth and a fierce intimacy - way before it became the eye of the global storm he was living and studying in this critical country. There isn't a village he hasn't visited and a front line he hasn't crossed. The world is belatedly waking up to the importance of Ukraine. And Miller is the ultimate guide." —Peter Pomerantsev, author of This Is Not Propaganda and Nothing Is True And Everything Is Possible
This information about The War Came To Us was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Christopher Miller is a writer and journalist based in Brooklyn, New York and Kyiv, Ukraine. Since 2019 he has been lead correspondent in Ukraine for Buzzfeed News, where he has been covering the current conflict. Before that he spent 5 years as a correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Kyiv. His writing and journalism has been published in POLITICO Europe, The Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, CNN, Vice News, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Outline and GlobalPost. His coverage of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 was Missouri Honor Medal Winner for Distinguished Service in Journalism.
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