A small, stubborn town by Andrew Harding

A small, stubborn town by Andrew Harding – life, death and defiance in Ukraine – is a book on a town in Ukraine, Voznesensk. Just as I finished reading the book and I was searching for details on Voznesensk, I saw the news published less than 2 hours before that which said that russia hit a civilian facility in the city and that there are casualties. The mayor was injured.

For context, Voznesensk had a pre-war population of 34k people. This, adjusted for population size, would mean a town like Morecambe, Crosby, or Horsham in the UK. Adjusted for population size for the US would mean a city like Chesapeake or Winston-Salem.

The local population responded fast to the russian invasion. As the author wrote:
“If the town’s defenders had chosen not to make a stand – had left it to another town, another bridge, another community to risk everything. Perhaps russian troops would have pushed on and seized the great port city of Odesa.”

Due to its location the town had a strategic importance. If russian troops could have taken this town they could have moved towards Odesa or big cities north of Kherson. The town had a bridge which was blown up and that made it impossible for the russians to advance in that part of the country. The battle took place in March 2022.

The book is about some of the people who lived through it with the most important person being Svetlana, a grandmother with arthritis. There is Valentin, a lawyer, Yevheni Velichko, the mayor, and other people from the town. I loved the human stories and Svetlana’s is so sad, especially her relation with the russian members of her family (she was born in russia).

This is the story of ordinary people who did amazing things to protect their homes. They are not presented in a heroic light, just their stories are told. Harding interviewed russian soldiers too and he tells their stories as well. As the book is so short it is just worth reading. As a journalist, Harding wrote a book more akin to a novel than a non-fiction book. It is a delight to read.

A small, stubborn town by Andrew Harding

Details about the picture: –
My rating: 5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: yes
Published by: Ithaka Press
Year it was published: 2023
Format: Hardcover
Genre(s): History
Pages: 140

About the author: Andrew Harding is the BBC’s Africa Correspondent, based in Johannesburg. He authored of “These Are Not Gentle People”, a true-crime novel set in South Africa and published in South Africa, the UK, and the Netherlands. The book has been turned into a BBC Radio 4 series and podcast.
Harding wrote the internationally acclaimed non-fiction book, “The Mayor of Mogadishu” – the tale of a nomad, turned street brawler, turned refugee who left his family in London to return to take charge of the war-ravaged ruins of Somalia’s capital. It was praised by the New York Times, The Economist, The Washington Post and chosen as one of NPR’s books of 2016.
Website & Social Media Links: –