Never Say War

*** LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION ***

Superlative ... a book of unusual powerTHE TIMES
A totally unprecedented, behind the scenes portrait of Putins Russia at war. AstonishingANTONY BEEVOR
A daring on-the-ground work of reportage with a distinctly human feelFINANCIAL TIMES
Hypnotically good. Seierstad has imparted a sense of the Russians in a way I have not experienced beforeJON LEE ANDERSON

The prize-winning new book from the bestselling author of THE BOOKSELLER OF KABUL

Putins 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 Seierstads 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 Seierstads 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?

The vivid depiction of wartime life in the heart of Russia lingers after reading this fascinating bookIRISH TIMES

A portrait of the Russia that is now in the ascendent - a tragic view, leavened by Seierstads humane and sharp-eyed proseCharlotte Hobson, SPECTATOR

An exquisite work of on-the-ground reportage conjuring all the violence, injustice and contradiction of wartime Russia. Novelistic-in-scope, insightful and humaneHOWARD 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 readJANA BAKUNINA, author of The Good Russian: In Search of a Nations Soul

***Winner of the Brage Prize, the Norwegian Booksellers Prize, and the Norwegian Critics Prize***