Overreach: The Inside Story of Putin’s War Against Ukraine

Written by Owen Matthews

Narrated by Saul Reichlin

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Nov 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9780008562762

Reviews for Overreach

[Iga Mahad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book for future generations which might want to learn of the war.

[Rita Goetz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very good Seems like a true story that explains the war

[ericlee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a brilliant book. Owen Matthews, a veteran journalist covering Russia, tells the story of the run-up to Putin's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 and the months that followed. The book was completed at the end of September, which means the author managed to reach the point in the war where it first began to seem that Ukraine might actually win. Writing a work of history while the events are taking place is an almost impossible task, but Matthews does it with aplomb in this very readable book. Highly recommended.