The Death of a Soldier Told by His Sister: A Ukrainian Story

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WITH A FOREWORD BY PHILIPPE SANDS AND AN INTRODUCTION BY ANDREY KURKOV

'If you read only one book about the war, this is the one to read.' -Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm

'Unforgettable. An immediate history of a cruel war and a personal chronicle of unbearable loss' -Simon Sebag-Montefiore, author of The World

Killed by shrapnel as he served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Olesya Khromeychuk's brother Volodymyr died on the frontline in eastern Ukraine. As Khromeychuk tries to come to terms with losing her brother, she also tries to process the Russian invasion of Ukraine: as a historian of war, as a woman and as a sister.

In a thoughtful blend of memoir and essay, Olesya Khromeychuk tells the story of her brother - and of Ukraine. Beautifully written and giving unique, poignant insight into the lives of those affected, it is an urgent act of resistance against the dehumanising cruelty of war.

'If you want to understand Ukraine's determination to resist, Olesya Khromeychuk's book is essential.' -Paul Mason, author of How to Stop Fascism

[A] tender and courageous book... Khromeychuk's clear-sighted prose expresses the pain that thousands, even millions, have felt in every conflict, past and present. -The Literary Review Magazine

'A touching and brilliantly written account about grief, and also about strength. I read it in one night.' -Olia Hercules

Reviews

Elegantly written... packed with the sharpness of moments when a death suddenly becomes real * Times Literary Supplement *
I admire a book that invites me to grapple with knotty questions. Olesya Khromeychuk has written such a book - beautifully. * Professor Cynthia Enloe, author of Nimo's War *
Moving, intelligent and brilliantly written, this is a sister's reckoning with a lost brother, an migr's with the country of her childhood, and a scholar's with her own suddenly acutely personal subject matter. A wonderful combination of emotional and intellectual honesty. It even manages to be funny. * Anna Reid, author of Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine *
In vivid, intimate prose and with unflinching honesty, Olesya Khromeychuk introduces us to the brother she lost in the war and found in her grief. Poignant, wise and unforgettable. * Dr Rory Finnin, University of Cambridge *
[A] tender and courageous book... Khromeychuk's clear-sighted prose expresses the pain that thousands, even millions, have felt, not just in Ukraine now but in every conflict, past and present. * The Literary Review Magazine *
With disarming candour and an arresting mix of the mystical and the everyday, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the impact of Putin's war on Ukrainians * Lucy Ash *
A touching and brilliantly written account about grief, and also about strength. I read it in one night. * Olia Hercules *
Heartbreaking, agonizing, poetical and unforgettable. An immediate history of a cruel war and a personal chronicle of unbearable loss, beautifully and vividly told by a superb historian and elegant writer in a work that brings every death in Ukraine alive with transcendent grief and love * Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The World: A Family History *
A deeply moving and beautifully written account of her brother's death fighting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. If you read only one book about the war, this is the one to read. * Henry Marsh, bestselling author of 'Do No Harm' *
Khromeychuk is a scholar, and as such she brings an insight that is inseparable from her very personal story. She is able to frame the war in Ukraine with the rich particularity of human experience. It's the account only she could write. * Julie Durbin, Current *
Khromeychuk shows that the experience of grief transcends individual circumstance and in fact, unites us * Los Angeles Review of Books *

Author Bio

Dr Olesya Khromeychuk (@OKhromeychuk) is a historian and writer. She has taught the history of East-Central Europe at Cambridge, UCL, UEA and King's College London and is currently the Director of the Ukrainian Institute London. She has written for the New York Review of Books, Der Spiegel, the Los Angeles Review of Books, openDemocracy and Metro.