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  • Overreach

  • The Inside Story of Putin’s War Against Ukraine
  • By: Owen Matthews
  • Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
  • Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (233 ratings)

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Overreach

By: Owen Matthews
Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
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Summary

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.

©2022 Owen Matthews (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
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Critic reviews

"Not merely the first full account of the war in Ukraine, but may set the standard for some time to come…a remarkable achievement, with Matthews’s expert eye like an all-seeing drone, buzzing from one side of the conflict to the other." (Telegraph)

"Superb…a true page-turner." (Andrew Roberts, BBC History)

What listeners say about Overreach

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

Well researched and narrated

As someone who has closely followed news of the russo-ukranian war, I still learnt a great deal. Well worth the listen

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Informed, perceptive, balanced

One of the best overviews of the conflict in Ukraine and Putin's huge miscalculation. It runs up to September 2022.

The author has long and first-hand experience of Russia. The sources include highly placed politicians, writers and pollsters as well as ordinary citizens in both Russia and Ukraine.

The conclusion of the book reflects the complexity and the difficulties involved.

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  • Overall
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Mycket välskriven och bra uppläsare

Funkade bra att förstå allt tack vare suverän uppläsare. Boken är intressant även för den som har hängt med i händelserna. Författaren belyser bakgrund och ger sammanhang samt ett personligt perspektiv eftersom han var i Ryssland under en stor del av händelseutvecklingen och har själv sina rötter där.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Need to hear more from opposition

We have to see what else is written by opposition, all together good performance and story,

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Very good

Very good, interesting and useful knowledge. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in the war. Easy listen

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

totally absorbing read

undoubtedly a unique authority on Russia and the kremlin... a sobering read but a necessary one.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

An in depth background and commentary on the war to date

All of us have been affected by the war in Ukraine and the book provides a helpful background as well as in depth detail of the war to date and the personalities behind it, particularly on the Russian side, where so much other commentary focuses on Putin alone. It was informative and well read. It avoids excessive detail and the final chapter sets out some realistic assessment of where the resolution of the conflict might lie.

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Timely analysis

Easy to listen analysis of why Russia invaded Ukraine by Russian speaker
Who is fair minded

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Informative, fair, personal and brilliant

Really well researched, excellently told. Not a dull moment and I found it worked marvellously for an audiobook

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my favourite right now

and factual descriptions always have real weight. I'm looking to see what else he has written

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