Full Description
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Kateryna hung up her dresses,
Oksana and Stanislav put down their lawyers' briefs and Oksen slammed shut his
philosophy textbooks. Alongside thousands of their fellow citizens, they
strapped on armour, picked up weapons and chose to risk their lives for the
freedom and independence of their homeland. Many would never return.
Journalist Tom Mutch woke up in Kyiv on 24 February to a
world changed for ever. Making a fateful choice to stay and cover the invasion,
he witnessed the forging of an 'iron generation' of young Ukrainians. With
first-hand reporting from all the major battlegrounds and front lines, The
Dogs of Mariupol recounts the war's notorious encounters, such as the
Battle of Kyiv and the Siege of Mariupol, but also uncovers untold stories,
like the 1st Tank Brigade's desperate defence of Chernihiv and the civilian guerrilla
army fighting overwhelming odds in Sumy.
This is not a triumphalist account of Ukraine's fight,
however. It painstakingly documents the immense human catastrophe wrought on
Ukrainian society and the divisions between those who fought and those who
fled. It also delves deeper into events to answer important historical
questions: could the Russian plan to capture Kyiv have succeeded? Did Ukraine
make a fatal error by committing for so long to the defence of Bakhmut? And
with more western support, could Ukraine have won this terrible war outright?
