The Language of War

A detailed, on-the-ground account, reminding us of the atrocities that are changing life in Ukraine forever… The Language of War eats into the mind like phosphorus

Robin Ashenden, Spectator

A stunning account of life in a time of war. If this doesn’t make you look up from your screen to reflect on Ukraine, then nothing will… often heart-rending… this is far more than history, invaluable as his detailed reporting is. As well as a reckoning with Russia, it is also a reflection on humanity in any war

Alec Russell, Financial Times

A vivid account of invasion and the struggle to find the words to describe a new reality: war

Financial Times

Before 24 February 2022, writer Oleksandr Mykhed and his wife, Olena, had an enviable life. In 2018 they’d bought a three-storey townhouse in Hostomel, a suburb of Kyiv. On Saturdays, they’d go out for brunch and walk their dog in the forest... Then came 24 February... Within less than a week, life had completely transformed... The Language of War is a book written in the moment, charting the first year of Russia's invasion... scattering fragments of his exploded past through the brutal reality of a grindingly violent present

Charlotte Higgins, Observer

I admired it so much because of the language: the precision of it, the shock… so fresh... one would rather that the book was never written because of the circumstances, but it is such a superb book

Roddy Doyle

In this vital work, Mykhed takes on the challenge of finding a language to convey the horror and absurdity of war, and succeeds with devastating impact. One cannot ever truly capture the reality and enormity of war, but can only document fragments of events and snapshots of people’s lives. Mykhed skilfully collates these fragments - recollections, anecdotes, portraits and conversations, interspersed with a catalogue of war crimes - into a uniquely powerful account of what has happened to our country and our people since February 2022. Both deeply personal and of universal and lasting significance, this book should be required reading for humankind

Mstyslav Chernov, Oscar-winning director of 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL

One of Ukraine's leading writers and critics

Ada Wordsworth, The Telegraph

A harrowing recount of life as a Ukrainian during the first months of Russia’s invasion – a timely reminder of its ever-presence for the millions living through it. It is, in that sense, a book not about Ukraine but about Ukrainians. . . it will compel you to care

Independent

Each piece of writing here helps us to understand a reality that we can and must repair. This book has helped me and will help anyone who wishes to understand war

Timothy Snyder

In The Language of War, the author himself is the eyewitness… the book brims with horror… Mykhed wields a skilful, angry pen

Economist

Mykhed focusses on how culture and, in particular, language have become important theatres of war… a clever, passionate book

Roger Boyes, The Times

What role for the artist in times of catastrophe? An important book and a painful piece of history… brilliant

Luke Harding, Observer