While military matters in Syria have been distracting politicians and pundits alike, Tim Judah’s grim, timely salvo from Ukraine is a reminder that not every war has to revolve around the Middle East. Interviewing a wide range of people who have been caught up in the recent conflict, from travel journalist and poet Olena Maksymenko to political scientist-cum-Putin supporter Sergei Baryshnikov, Judah concentrates skilfully and affectingly on the human cost of manoeuvres in Ukraine. He seldom makes his own thoughts and opinions seem intrusive, instead letting his eloquent and compassionate subjects give a far greater insight into the horror and privations suffered by the citizens of Ukraine. Yet there are occasional glimpses of hope and decency amid the slaughter and squalor and Judah’s account of what is really happening is lifted by these haunting touches.
In Wartime: Stories from Ukraine is published by Allen Lane (£20)
