Never Say War

'A totally unprecedented, behind the scenes portrait of Putin's Russia at war. Astonishing. A major work' ANTONY BEEVOR 'Hypnotically good. Seierstad has imparted a sense of the Russians, in this "at war under Putin's thumb" era in a way I have not experienced before' JON LEE ANDERSON The prize-winning new book from the bestselling author of THE BOOKSELLER OF KABUL Putin's Russia silences its citizens, targets foreign journalists and invaded a neighbouring country - while declaring it illegal to say the country is at war. This is what we know from the outside: but what does it feel like on the inside?
The way into this question, for bestselling author and journalist Åsne Seierstad, was young Russian soldier Andrey Medvedev, who defected from the infamous Wagner Group and sought asylum in Norway in January 2023. He was three years old when Putin rose to power and his life story mirrors the transformation of his country. And as Seierstad dug deeper into his family and connections, more and more of Russian society opened up to her, from teachers and farmers to reporters and women left behind by soldiers at war.
Drawing upon Seierstad's deep knowledge of Russia and her unparalleled access to the country, Never Say War paints an intimate yet epic portrait of a much-mythologized and little-understood country. With Seierstad's characteristic eye for narrative and detail, she takes us behind closed doors and illuminates the lives of individuals, helping us think about vital questions: how did present-day Russia come to be? And how are some Russians looking to change the future of their country? *Winner of the Brage Prize, the Norwegian Booksellers' Prize, and the Norwegian Critics' Prize* 'An exquisite work of on-the-ground reportage conjuring all the violence, injustice and contradiction of wartime Russia. Novelistic-in-scope, insightful and humane' HOWARD AMOS, author of Russia Starts Here: Real Lives in the Ruin of Empire 'What kind of man enlists to fight in Ukraine? A Russian soldier who runs from Wagner to seek asylum in Norway tells his heart-wrenching story to Åsne Seierstad. A necessary read' JANA BAKUNINA, author of The Good Russian: In Search of a Nation's Soul

Åsne Seierstad is an award-winning war correspondent and writer, best known for The Bookseller of Kabul, which has sold over two million copies. She first visited Russia in 1990, ahead of beginning studies in the Russian language in what was then Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. She reported on the country throughout the 90s and lived between Moscow and Grozny from 2006-7 while researching her book The Angel of Grozny: Life Inside Chechnya. Between 2023 and 2024, she made five extended trips to Russia that form the basis of her latest book. Her insights are invaluable in understanding the past, present and future of a behemothian country that concerns us all.