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Overreach: The Inside Story of Putin and Russia’s War Against Ukraine Kindle Edition
Winner of the Pushkin House Book Prize 2023
*A Telegraph Book of the Year*
A Times Best Book of Summer 2023
*Shortlisted for the Parliamentary Book Awards*
An astonishing investigation into the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war – from the corridors of the Kremlin to the trenches of Mariupol.
The Russo-Ukrainian War is the most serious geopolitical crisis since the Second World War – and yet at the heart of the conflict is a mystery. Vladimir Putin apparently lurched from a calculating, subtle master of opportunity to a reckless gambler, putting his regime – and Russia itself – at risk of destruction. Why?
Drawing on over 25 years’ experience as a correspondent in Moscow, as well as his own family ties to Russia and Ukraine, journalist Owen Matthews takes us through the poisoned historical roots of the conflict, into the Covid bubble where Putin conceived his invasion plans in a fog of paranoia about Western threats, and finally into the inner circle around Ukrainian president and unexpected war hero Volodimir Zelensky.
Using the accounts of current and former insiders from the Kremlin and its propaganda machine, the testimony of captured Russian soldiers and on-the-ground reporting from Russia and Ukraine, Overreach tells the story not only of the war’s causes but how the first six months unfolded.
With its panoramic view, Overreach is an authoritative, unmissable record of a conflict that shocked Europe to its core.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMudlark
- Publication dateNovember 10, 2022
- File size3117 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
‘Not merely the first full account of the war in Ukraine, but may set the standard for some time to come … a remarkable achievement, with Matthews’s expert eye like an all-seeing drone, buzzing from one side of the conflict to the other’ 5* Telegraph
‘A vivid and revealing first draft of history … The strength of his account lies in his ability to tell the story from many angles, weaving them into a single, fast-paced narrative … fascinating’ Financial Times
‘The best current analysis of the countdown to war’ Serhii Plokhy, TLS
‘There will be many more books on Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but Owen Matthews’ extraordinary perspective has produced an interim account of special value.’ Daily Mail
‘A wave of hurriedly written books about the Russo-Ukrainian war is about to crash over our bookshops and overburdened shelves, but it is hard not to feel sorry for most of their authors. Owen Matthews has already come out with what is not only one of the fastest, but also likely to be the best, setting a painfully high benchmark for those who follow.’ Times
‘The best new book on Russia … a classic as enduring as Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia’ Literary Review
‘Superb … a true page-turner’ Andrew Roberts, BBC History
About the Author
Award-winning correspondent, historian and fluent Russian-speaker Owen Matthews has lived and worked in Moscow for over 25 years. He has built up an unrivalled network of contacts who have worked in Putin’s administration, security services, armed forces and propaganda machine. He worked first as a staffer for The Moscow Times and then as Newsweek magazine’s Moscow Bureau Chief. He has covered conflicts in Bosnia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, Georgia and Eastern Ukraine. He currently contributes regularly to Foreign Policy, Spectator, Daily Mail, Telegraph and The Critic.
Product details
- ASIN : B0B79FVY1J
- Publisher : Mudlark (November 10, 2022)
- Publication date : November 10, 2022
- Language : English
- File size : 3117 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 441 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #85,262 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #17 in Russian & Soviet Politics
- #22 in History of Russia eBooks
- #65 in History of Individual Wars
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Owen Matthews was born in London in 1971. He studied Modern History at Oxford University before beginning his career as a freelance journalist in Bosnia. His stories have appeared in a number of publications including the Spectator, Harper's and Queen and Private Eye, the Times and Sunday Times, the Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, the Independent and the Independent on Sunday, the Daily Mail and the Times Literary Supplement. From 1995 to 1997 he worked at The Moscow Times, a daily English-language newspaper in Moscow, with forays into Lebanon and Afghanistan.
In 1997 Owen became a correspondent for Newsweek magazine, covering the second Chechen war as well as Russian politics and society. From 2001 to 2006 he was based in Istanbul, covering the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2006 he has combined the jobs of Newsweek's Moscow bureau chief and Istanbul correspondent. Owen is the author of Stalin's Children: Three Generations of Love and War, published by Bloomsbury in June 2008, which was shortlisted for that year's Guardian First Books Award and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, and listed among the Books of the Year by the Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and the Spectator. Stalin's Children has been translated into twenty languages, and the French edition (Les Enfants de Staline, Belfond, 2009) was shortlisted for the Prix Medicis Etranger 2009 and the Grand Prix des Lectrices d'Elle 2010.
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Through vivid storytelling, Matthews delves into the details of the war's early days, painting a picture of tragedy for the Ukrainian people and senseless acts of violence by Russian soldiers. The reader is also given a glimpse into the frightening atmosphere that pervaded Moscow, where the “acrid smoke” of paranoia and a “blanket of fear” shrouded the city almost instantly.
Matthews traces the gradual descent of Russian President Vladimir Putin into isolation and paranoia, ultimately culminating in his disastrous decision to try and conquer Ukraine. He resists the temptation to label Putin insane and instead portrays him (and to some degree his opponents from NATO) as figures from an ancient Greek tragedy who, through their actions, bring about the very outcome they are trying to avoid. He cuts surprisingly little slack to Ukrainian President Zelensky as well. He portrays Zelensky's decision to eradicate Russian influence in Ukraine through internal sanctions and his rejection of Steinmeier's formula for Donbass as fateful, if perhaps unavoidable, steps that ultimately led to an escalation of the conflict.
With focus on the motivations and constraints of the key players involved, Matthews believes that NATO cannot afford to let Ukraine lose the war, while Putin's regime and potentially his life depend on avoiding a catastrophic loss (although, with his control of the Russian media intact, Putin will be well-positioned to declare just about any outcome that doesn’t involve the loss of Crimea a victory). Matthews suggests that at best, Putin's failed invasion of Ukraine could mark the end of expansive imperialism in European history. At worst?.. Putin tried nuclear blackmail and failed, but it doesn’t mean such an escalation is impossible for an erratic leader who already brought about the largest possible threat to his regime for an illusory and utterly unachievable goal. Anyway, Putin has poisoned Russia's future in the root and his self-declared victory will be one of the uneducated over the educated and of the past over the future, Matthews writes.
Unfortunately, this book suffers from issues with editing and fact-checking. The author makes several inaccuracies, such as claiming that Vladimir the Great was known as Valdemar and that ancient Chersonesus he ruled over is the same as modern-day Kherson. The Savur-Mohyla obelisk wasn’t 300 meters tall, and there’s no evidence that 150,000 Soviet troops were buried there. The claim that 100,000 people make up a third of Crimea's population is incorrect. The book also mischaracterizes the relationship between the Russian and Ukrainian languages: I would refrain from saying that they are mutually unintelligible and are as far away from each other as English and Dutch. These (and many other) mistakes may detract from the book's overall credibility and integrity. But overall the book provides a comprehensive, balanced and insightful view of the war and its potential outcomes.
I would suggest that the reader start at 50% of the book for the recent history of the Ukrainian war up to Sept 25, 2020. It is an extraordinarily vivid recounting of what has and is happening.
Go back to read the first half for for the historical background that brought us to this moment in History.
Also very good in analysing different scenarios for how the war can end in a balanced way.
Top reviews from other countries
What makes it sort of exceptional for me are the myriad of personal stories included, arising from interviews with many different personnel, such as:
The funeral director, Mykhailo Sokurenko who wanted to drop bodies from a plane over Moscow to show people there exactly what was going on, Anna Bondarenko a TV news producer who described the propaganda she was instructed to broadcast as "shit", Svetlana Terekhova stranded in Milan unable to pay for her hotel when sanctions bit, Larisa Boiko's suffering in Mariupol and Jimmy S and his mate Lambie in Kharkiv.
Matthews clearly shows how Zelensky has changed from a comedian into a very skilful and hard-nosed leader who is a great credit to his nation.
I lived and worked in Kyiv through into the new millennium when Russians and Ukrainians lived and worked side by side in what, to me, appeared to be peace. How that must have changed.
This book is the very first time I have heard or seen anything in writing as to how Putin got from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Headhunted by Voloshin with the aid of Berezovsky ??? Although interesting, I am still sceptical about that.
It is interesting to be reminded that Russia has failed to manufacture anything wanted by the world with the exception, perhaps, of military arms.
I deduce that perhaps, just perhaps, a lot might have been avoided if NATO had been more careful and, certainly, if the USA had made a better fist of withdrawing from Afghanistan.
What the west very much fails to grasp is that unlike the west, Russians do not blame their leaders for failures and incompetence.
Further, the majority of Russians are close to the monthly average salary of £802 and some 14% are below the poverty line on £120 per month. The withdrawal of the fancy retailers does not affect them one jot.
Thank you Mr. Matthews for a very, very informative read. Very enjoyable, and not a little scary !
Good binding printing and overall quality though.





