This book felt to me like a reporter’s "notebook cleaner" in which the author simply dumps old field notes into a new manuscript. As with many other volumes on the war, Miller doesn’t get to the full-scale Russian invasion until more than halfway through his book — but once he does, he is particularly good at recounting the chaotic, precarious early days of the war.
Miller’s account of this revolution is fascinating and granular, told through his encounters with protesters of all stripes ... His writing about the war is equally nuanced ... Miller certainly has a journalist’s eye for telling details and ear for poignant or revealing comments. He avoids caricature without getting bogged down by caveats. He is not pretending to be a historian or an analyst, but is instead taking the reader on a journey through the tumult of recent years.
[Miller] brings a seasoned, personal perspective to his book ... Where this book may divide readers is in the large amount of space it allocates to events in Ukraine pre-war ... True, many readers – this reviewer included – will relish learning more about the run-up to the conflict, and the fabric of the society it tore apart ... However, the book does have the feel of a work already in progress before the war with some wartime chapters speedily bolted on ... Occasionally, Miller’s otherwise competent prose also shows deadline fatigue, lapsing into cliché that editors should have fixed.
Immersive ... Miller’s matter-of-fact narration is vivifying. The resolve, anger, and fear of the Euromaidan fighters are evoked well, and the confusion among journalists crashing up against the stoicism of the war-hardened people of Donetsk following Russia’s invasion is palpable. Written with love, respect, and the critical eye of a reporter, the book evinces deep dedication to an adopted homeland.
This is as much Miller’s personal narrative as it is a tale of the beginning of a war. Readers not drawn to the history of this conflict might find the book a bit too diary-like in its day-to-day accounts of people and places.
The value of this book is that it demonstrates the real toll in lives lost and broken ... Traveling around and speaking with people, Miller often finds it hard to maintain journalistic detachment, but his compassion and honesty are appreciated. He avoids a simplistic conclusion, but it looks as if the war has become a slogging match of attrition.
Miller vividly illustrates the risks correspondents take ... but readers hoping for insights into the historical and cultural fault lines underscoring the conflict will have to look elsewhere. Still, this is frontline reporting at its finest.
