A beautiful blend of memoir, reportage and history...superb: a pulsing, immersive narrative of boots-on-the-ground reporting. The War Came To Us is an important book, and a testament to the importance of quality journalism. Miller is dogged in his reporting, and a fine writer. He has the right amounts of courage, intellectual honesty, chutzpah, self-effacing humour and talent, reminding this reader of AJ Liebling's superlative collection of second World War writings.” —Irish Times
“A vivid, engaged and engaging series of vignettes and impressions of the period up to the early days of the war... What a passionate, colourful journey – by turns inspiring and horrifying – it turns out to be.” —Mark Galeotti, the Guardian
“Vivid… Shocking… [Miller] brings a seasoned, personal perspective to his account of both the 16-month conflict and its wider roots.” —Daily Telegraph
“An eye-opening and deeply touching inside story of the country's long fight for freedom against Russian aggression.” —Waterstones
“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
“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 - 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
“Fascinating.” —Timothy Garton Ash
“It's Chris' capacity for both narrative restraint and warm-hearted, unpretentious observations of his surroundings that make him stand out among many chroniclers of modern Ukraine in both its horror and its glory.” —Natalia Antonova website
“…Christopher Miller brings the war and its impact on Ukraine's people back to the front page, sparing no details, and in so doing provides one of the best and most insightful narrative histories yet published of the war against Ukraine…” —Diplomatic Courier
“Christopher Miller's book not only takes you to the fields of the Russian–Ukrainian war, but also to the recent history of Ukraine, without knowledge of which it is difficult to understand and appreciate what is happening now. The War Came To Us is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how this war is changing Ukraine and Ukrainians, and how it is making dramatic changes to the world order.” —Andrey Kurkov, author of Grey Bees and Death and the Penguin
“The War Came to Us is the single-best account of how Ukraine found itself at the center of Russia's imperial ambitions – and the best book yet written on the Ukrainians who are fighting to make their country free once more.” —Casey Michel, author of Foreign Agents and American Kleptocracy
“In his rendering of the contrast between war and peace, peace and war, Christopher Miller has given us an invaluable record of Ukraine's past and present.” —Michael Kimmage, author of Collisions
“[Miller] is particularly good at recounting the chaotic, precarious early days of the war.” —The New York Times
“The War Came To Us [is] a deeply reported yet personal and nuanced account of the long war in Ukraine, by a brilliant and collegiate correspondent.” —Tom Parfitt, author of High Caucasus
“Miller...does what a veteran journalist does best - he allows the people to speak.” —The Moscow Times
“Miller's insights come with the curiosity that any good journalist should possess, and it is clear that in his years of work he has engaged with people wherever he goes in Ukraine to establish reliable sources as well as to try and understand their perspective better.” —The Kyiv Independent
05/08/2023
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 in February 2022. After witnessing the Kremlin’s takeover of the Crimean Peninsula and the battle between Ukrainian soldiers and Russian separatists for Donetsk airport (“a mess of spattered blood, shattered glass, and mangled steel”) in 2014, Miller crisscrossed the country and landed major scoops, including his discovery in Ukraine’s Donbas region of a trove of execution orders—the “first hard evidence of war crimes” committed by Russia’s proxies in the fight. After the war broke out in 2022, Miller traveled under enemy fire to the cities of Mariupol and Bakhmut, where he mingled with survivors hiding in the basements of damaged buildings, and to Kiev, which was under aerial assault from drone attacks. Miller vividly illustrates the risks correspondents take (at one checkpoint, “a hulk of a man with a snarling face sat me down and screamed at me for an hour.... And he told me he was going to kill me unless I confessed to being an American spy”), but readers hoping for insights into the historical and cultural fault lines underscoring the conflict will have to look elsewhere. Still, this is frontline reporting at its finest. (July)
★ 2023-04-17
A penetrating account of the reality of Putin’s war on Ukraine.
It is easy to think about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in terms of geopolitical maneuvering and armchair commentary. The value of this book is that it demonstrates the real toll in lives lost and broken. Miller is a journalist who writes for a number of publications, but he has a deep connection with Ukraine, going back to a stint as a teacher in the Peace Corps. He emphasizes that the invasion is merely the latest chapter in the long story of conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and he delves into the background through stories and interviews. He clearly has great affection for the country and its people, and he wonders why it has been plagued by brutal, corrupt governments. Putin, for his part, has argued that Ukraine does not have legitimacy as an independent state and is historically part of Russia. Miller dismisses this claim, like most of what Putin says about Ukraine, as ludicrous, although the presence of a Russian-leaning minority complicates the picture. Most Ukrainians were not surprised when Russian forces came streaming across the border, and the preparations they had made were crucial in their capacity to beat back the invaders. There were plenty of Nazi-level atrocities, but if the Russians had thought that the Ukrainians would be intimidated, they were utterly mistaken. The Ukrainian military was supplemented by legions of volunteers, and advanced weapons from the West leveled the technological battlefield. Traveling around and speaking with people, Miller often finds it hard to maintain journalistic detachment, but his compassion and honesty are appreciated. He avoids a simplistic conclusion, but it looks as if the war has become a slogging match of attrition. Eventually, the Ukrainians will probably expel the Russians, but the final cost will be enormous.
With powerful stories and insightful background, Miller provides a human dimension to a bloody conflict.
