The Mad and the Brave - The Untold Story of Ukraine's Foreign Legion

With real-life echoes of SAS Rogue Heroes - this is an astonishing account of Europe''s biggest major conflict, told through the eyes of a ragbag collection of foreign fighters Three days after Russian tanks roll into Ukraine, President Volodymr Zelensky issues a desperate appeal for foreign military volunteers to help defend his country. Thousands answer the call from all over the world: some of them experienced soldiers, others novices who''ve never held a gun before. Among their ranks are high-minded idealists, adventure-seekers bored with civilian life, and ex-criminals seeking redemption - all risking their lives against the world''s most vicious superpower. Some flee at the first sign of trouble, others become heroes; many are killed, and a few turn their guns on each other. This is their story - often terrifying, often tragic, sometimes comic, and sometimes glorious...

About the author

Colin Freeman is a former chief foreign correspondent of The Sunday Telegraph, now a freelance foreign affairs journalist. He writes features, comment and book reviews for The Daily Telegraph, as well as for The Spectator, The Economist, and The National in Abu Dhabi. He contributes regularly to From Our Own Correspondent on BBC Radio Four and does media punditry on foreign affairs. He is also the author of three previous books: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: The mission to rescue the hostages the world forgot (Icon Books, 2021). Kidnapped: Life as a Somali pirate hostage (Monday Books, 2011) was about the author's own experience of being abducted in Somalia in 2008. And The Curse of the Al-Dulaimi Hotel and other half-truths from Baghdad (Monday Books, 2008) is a book of reportage about post-Saddam Iraq.

Product details

• Authors: Colin Freeman, Freeman Colin
• Publisher: Harper Collins Uk
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.07.2025
• EAN: 9780008722470
• ISBN: 978-0-00-872247-0
• Dimensions: 153 mm x 234 mm x 20 mm
• Subjects: Non-fiction book; Ukraine, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Journalism, True war & combat stories, Geopolitics, HISTORY / Modern / 21st Century, 21st Century, 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100, Reportage & collected journalism, Battles & campaigns, Special & elite forces, Special and elite forces, Reportage, journalism or collected columns, War & defence operations, Land forces & warfare, Irregular or guerrilla forces & warfare, Irregular or guerrilla forces and warfare, Land forces and warfare, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / General, HISTORY / Russia / General, HISTORY / Europe / Ukraine, Kyiv (Kiev), Kyiv (Kyivska) oblast