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Book cover of Diary of an Invasion

Diary of an Invasion

Andrey Kurkov

14
Coup de coeur
Coup de coeur (Europe), by Amanda
From the end of 2021 to the summer of 2022, Andrey Kurkov opens his personal journal to us to recount the first months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Not shying away from calling out the inadequate responses of world leaders to Russian aggression and the atrocities committed in the name of a "special operation", Kurkov reflects on what the future holds for Ukraine and its citizens, both those remaining in the country and those displaced by the war. Remaining optimistic, Kurkov has no illusions when it comes to the daunting task of rebuilding lives after unthinkable suffering and heartbreak.

'Uplifting and utterly defiant' Matt Nixson, Daily Express
'Immediate and important ... This is an insider's account of how an ordinary life became extraordinary' Helen Davies, The Times

'At first we did not understand what war was.
You can't understand it until you see it and hear it.'

As Russian forces build up beyond the Ukrainian borders and the prospect of war becomes a devastating reality, Andrey Kurkov chronicles the shocking impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Part political and historical commentary, part personal journal, Kurkov explores the fraught interrelation of Russian and Ukrainian history, the complicated coexistence of their languages, and in describing how a peaceful society defies occupation, the author builds an image of a culture which, contrary to Putin's claims, is unique and democratic, liberal and diverse, one that will 'resist to the end'.

Redirecting his satirical flair to paint a defiant portrait of his compatriots, Kurkov tells of a people united against erasure. Bread is baked and shared in the ruins. An amputee is carried aboard an evacuating train, grandmothers escape occupied towns with their noisome roosters. And despite the networks of toloka, of community work for common good, being stretched to breaking point, and the embittering reticence of some European nations to make good their promises of aid and armaments, hope channels its perennial resistance: children are born deep within besieged cities and farmers go on working the fields made lethal by unexploded shells. Kurkov braids his personal story with those of other displaced Ukrainians and the communities that have gone to extraordinary lengths to care for them. Showing an irrepressible spirit, they 'wait for the moment when it will be safe to return,' he writes, 'just as I am waiting.'

Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
Binding: Paperback
Publication date: 28 Sept 2023
Dimensions: 128 x 199 x 26 mm
ISBN: 9781800699090