In my opinion, this book never should have been written. It is an insult to the Ukrainian people! Not worth reading at all, very slanted towards the Russian Putin.

A touching and informative story of how present day Ukraine came to be, and how historical events shaped current events. A good and informative read which I would recommend to anyone.

Christopher Miller is a wonderful advocate for Ukraine from the very first page where he gives an overview from the eighth century all the way to today other fight to gain independence and ultimately to keep it. He does a wonderful job covering a country that has a violent past but has also seen peace. I couldn’t even imagine Noah Kahan or role model taking up guns and fighting to keep the country free but that is what’s happening in Ukraine they’re popular pop artist instead of touring the country are now policeman fighting to keep the freedom that most of us in America take for granted. We also get to read about the babies that are born to fathers that have already died to give them the nation they can live in peacefully. We need many civilians and politicians those who have hope in the future of Ukraine and those who want to jump in the pocket of Russia and let the chips fall where they may. Christopher Miller covers it all and doesn’t with respect and a great grass on the country the culture and their hopes and dreams. Most of this book is sad and heartbreaking but it also has silver linings where you see what is possible for this little country that could. We even get to relive the election of Crimea which was one of the catalyst to Russia going to war with the Ukraine. This is an interesting book and one that really sets down the real reason Russia attack to Ukraine bowls and ball bowls responsible and those who are victims of it I want to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book but I can’t enjoy some thing worth so many are suffering I will say it was extremely interesting and one I found hard to put down for a nonfiction book that is a big deal. I read a lot of nonfiction and this was a stellar read! I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This book did something to me, and I'm still working through it. I simply could not put it down. It starts with a summary of the history of Ukraine, which helps put everything that comes after in its proper context. The author takes you along on an exhilarating and terrifying ride, and you're right next to him, experiencing what he's experiencing, both the joys and the horrors of his life in Ukraine. I learned so much about Ukraine and about this war (and previous conflicts), and I was constantly impressed by the author's bravery, dedication, and displays of humanity. I am grateful to have been given the chance to experience this book before its release, so thank you, NetGalley! And thank you, Christopher Miller, for this gem of a book. It's a true gift to the world.

Christopher Miller first went to Ukraine as a Peace Corp volunteer in 2010, when he worked as a schoolteacher in Artemivsk (now called Bakhmut). Over his time there he slowly fell in love with the place. He has spent the bulk of his working career ever since in Ukraine. After leaving the Peace Corp he found work in Ukraine as a reporter and watched and reported as history unfolded around him.

At the time he joined the Peace Corp Miller had “decided to get lost for a while”. He had been working in Portland, Oregon as a local reporter. But news reporting was undergoing big changes in the US, and finding work was getting harder to do. While he was in Ukraine teaching with the Peace Corp the reporting bug never left him. He began to spend some of his non-teaching time with a group of Ukrainian investigative reporters.

After leaving the Peace Corp he got a job with the Kyiv Post, the first of many in-country reporting assignments. He has filed reports as a stringer for the New York Times, Washington Post, the Independent and other news organizations. For a while he was part of the staff reporting from Ukraine for Buzzfeed News. Now he works for the Financial Times.

Miller’s new book The War Came to Us, is both the story of his time in Ukraine, and an on the ground reporting of the events that have shaped Ukraine over the last decade. Miller was there, reporting from the Euromaidan in 2014 when the Ukranian revolution removed the corrupt Viktor Yanukovych from power. He was there when the “little green men” invaded and took over Crimea and much of the Donbas. He has been there for many of the major events that have made headline news around the world and continues reporting from Ukraine right up to today.

Miller’s love for the country and its people comes through clearly in this book. There are plenty of places you can go if you want to read about military strategies or political histories surrounding the relationship between Russia and Ukraine that have led to the current war. That is not what you get with this book.

Miller shows us lots of little moments that help to convey why he feels the way he does. Starting with his time in the country before the war, right up to and through the Russian invasion, his focus in relating stories to us is almost always on ordinary people - how events are impacting them, and how they are impacting events. It’s through their stories that you come to understand what’s going on in Ukraine and why it means so much.

If you are looking for an authoritative overview of the conflict in Ukraine, you could not ask for a better book. I highly recommend this one.

RATING: Five Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

NOTE: I read an advanced review copy of the book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher Bloomsbury USA. The book will be released to the public on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.

The War Came to Us
By Christopher Miller

The author was 25 years old in 2009 when he first went to the Ukraine as a Peace Corps volunteer. He spent his two year tour as a teacher in Artemivsk in the Donbas region of the country. During that time he spoke Russian and some Ukrainian and learned to love the people and the country. When his Peace Corps stint was over he returned to Ukraine as a journalist. This is his first-hand account of the uprising which forced out the Russian puppet regime and paved the way for the Russian invasion in 2014 which lead to its annexation of the Crimea – and ultimately Putin's full on invasion in 2022 with the intent to wipe Ukraine off the map.

The fact that the story told here is based on Mr. Miller's own experiences and the stories of friends and contacts throughout the country related to him directly makes the book shocking and its truths undeniable. The immediacy of the horrors inflicted by the invaders cannot be explained away. I was brought to tears in parts.

Through this book, the pain of all mothers through all wars is heart-rending and their ultimate question – "Why?" – resonates today as much as it always has. Unfortunately, there is no good answer.

Thank you Mr. Miller for always telling the truth.

I would like to thank Bloomsbury Continuum for providing me with an ARC.

Since picking up this book, I have learned that the author, Christopher Miller is a Russian propagandist and has pushed around the narrative of Ukrainian Nazis that Putin is fighting against. Miller ignores criticism and blocks those who do criticize him. Many other reviewers have pointed it out and have articulated these points better than me, so I recommend reading those to get a clearer point of the issues.

I expected a completely different book from description I was provided. The writing itself was lacking in many ways, particularly in sources and taking care in discussing the topic. As a nonfiction book, I would have liked to see some resources utilized to show where information was coming from.

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here." Shakespeare, The Tempest

This book is riveting.

There's no fancy frills. No glossy coating.

Just the words of a journalist who has seen much.

And a reminder that, like much of the world, Ukraine is still at war.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. The War Came To Us is an absolutely fantastic account of journalist, Chris Miller’s, nearly 13 years of reporting and experiences of life in Ukraine. He describes his experiences when he first came to Ukraine, through an assignment with the Peace Corps in Donbas, to getting into journalism and being at the frontlines for what happened in Crimea in 2014, and finally all the way through the Russo-Ukrainian war started in 2022.

This book is wonderful and beautiful for so many reasons. It truly teaches you about the recent history of Ukraine without reading like a normal history book. I absolutely loved the beginning of the book where we learn about the author’s life in Donbas with the Peace Corps, as he described what normal Ukrainian life was like in times of relative peace. We got to see a bit of what the local customs are like, local favorite foods and activities, and generally just what makes the country so unique and special. With so much focus rightly and justly focused on the political issues in Ukraine, it can be easy to overlook the beauty of everyday life there. Throughout the entire book, the author consistently brings us back down to earth to what daily life is like for most Ukrainian civilians, both in times of peace and in times of crisis.

Miller’s front line account of the political issues, ranging from Crimea to the current war, are also easy to follow and provide a unique perspective that’s different from a standard news article or report. I valued reading his account of what it was like to live through and learn of these political uprisings and ultimately war firsthand, as he provided a logistical, emotional, and observational perspective; I also recognize and appreciate how the author gives us a way to “see” how daily life changed in the blink of an eye through eyewitness accounts and interviews with civilians. It was tough to read about the deterioration of the Ukraine at the start of his book to now but, if there was one thing that I took away from this book, it was truly a recognition the enormous strength and resiliency of the Ukrainian people.

I will most certainly be coming back to this book to review again and fully absorb details I may have missed in my first reading; I look forward to rereading the author’s account of his growing love for Ukraine. Hopefully it goes without saying but I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about the history, daily life, and tumultuous political landscape of Ukraine.

Christopher Miller's introduction to Ukraine was as a Peace Corp worker in the Donbas before the Euromaidan Revolution and after his Peace Corp stint, he stayed as a journalist. He is an American but his heart is Ukrainian. He gives western readers an up-close perspective of a wide range of life experiences in Ukraine, including life in the Donbas before and after the 2014 invasion and what's happening there now. He takes readers on a survey of contemporary Ukrainian life under the shadow of the genocidal dictator next door. This is an eye-witness history of Ukraine from the mid-2000s until now. A must-read for any westerner trying to understand what it means to be Ukrainian right now.

This gives us a front row seat for what has going on in Ukraine the day of the Russian invasion. Miller was there. Not only do we get a peek at a text Alexander Vindman sent to him just hours before the first cruise missiles began falling, we get to see the behind the scenes reactions of not just the Ukrainians, many of whom had been through this before in 2014, but the media. They always look so cool and calm when the "on the air" light goes on but, well, that is definitely not always easy, as we learn here.

Maybe equally importantly, the author shares his years of experience and insight from living and working in Ukraine for years. You'll get to know the people, the average Ukrainian, and get some insight into their pre-attack take on Russia and government in general. You'll also learn things like why the Russians were so determined to capture the last hold-outs in that salt mine, so to speak, and the impact that defiance had on the ultimate plan. You'll also hear harrowing accounts of some of those taken hostage and shipped to Russia, including endless rounds of hours and hours of interrogation and being forced in front of television cameras. It isn't pretty and you will sense Miller's genuine concern for the people involved and others he struggles to keep tabs on.

And, when you aren't focused on war, you'll learn about favorite foods, best places to eat (wonder how many still exist?), dress, and bits of the language and lore. Miller even sneaks in history lessons as he writes of his own learning curve in the Ukraine after originally sent there by the Peace Corps in 2009. He was sent to the Donbas. That saga in itself is worth a book. Oh, what they must have thought of that bearded young American that one child dubbed Uncle Hedgehog, who rode everywhere on a no-frills bicycle.

I won't detail the rest of the war related information since, sadly, it isn't exactly unknown. What is great about this book, though, is that through his seemingly idle memory sharing, several "whys" emerge as to why such and such was done or the reactions.

Bottom line, I feel smarter and far better informed for reading this book. My sincere thanks to #NetGalley and #BloomburyUSA for making it available.