BOOK REVIEW: Russia's War Against Ukraine

Mark Edele’s Russia’s War Against Ukraine explores the historical roots of Putin’s imperial ambitions and why Russia’s neighbours have good reason to fear what comes next. Anne Layton-Bennett writes.

OF ALL the horrific conflicts in the world today, it is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that I’ve continued to follow most consistently.

Perhaps because there was a significant Ukrainian community in the North of England town where I grew up; and there was at least one Ukrainian girl at my school. Like so many people, Lydia’s family had come to the UK in the 1940s after World War Two.

In the introduction to Russia’s War Against Ukraine: The Whole Story, author Mark Edele admits he did not expect the war to last beyond 2023. In his updated 2026 edition, he says none of the three potential outcomes he laid out in the first edition has occurred yet. Neither Russia nor Ukraine have claimed victory and the conflict remains “frozen”. It’s an apt description as Europe faces another winter that for both Ukraine – and increasingly now Russia – shows every sign of being brutal.

The book’s six chapters provide a brief, potted history of both Russia and Ukraine and how their modern versions developed after both world wars. Edele describes Ukraine’s rocky emergence as an independent country, following its initial revolution in 1917-20, and the subsequent unrest and uprisings that finally led to independence in 1991.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambition to recreate a Russian empire is revealed, one that includes multiple ethnicities over a sprawling geographical territory, that would ultimately be recognised as a single union and a major power on the world’s stage.

Edele writes:

In 2019, in the middle of a war against Russian-backed rebels in Donbas, Ukraine opted against ethnic nationalism and for its civic sibling. It elected not the Ukrainian ethno-nationalist, Poroshenko, but the Russian-speaking Jewish Ukrainian, Zelensky, as its President.

In what other country would a video of the President as a younger man, clad in skin-tight leather and dancing in high heels while poking fun at national icons – the Cossacks – increase his popularity? The contrast with the earnest, unironic, homophobic and masculinist nationalism of Putin’s Russia could not be more extreme.

Although it’s a short book at just 175 pages of text, with a further 50 pages of references, the academic writing style is a challenge for the general reader. But for those seeking a better understanding of both countries’ history, some context for the current conflict and the realisation that Putin’s ambitions are unlikely to cease should Ukraine be defeated, this book also shows why countries that share a border with Russia have every reason to be concerned. They know they could well be next on Putin’s hit list.

'Russia's War on Ukraine' by Mark Edele was published by Melbourne University Publishing and is available from all leading book stores.

This book was reviewed by an IA Book Club member. If you would like to receive free high-quality books and have your review published on IA, subscribe to Independent Australia and receive your complimentary IA Book Club membership.