Collisions

Reviews / Votes

[Kimmage] provides well-informed and realistic, if bleak, context for current events...Political maneuvering rarely begets a page-turner, but Kimmages insightful account is just that. * Kirkus Reviews * The war in Ukraine is now in its third year and policymakers in Washington and around the world are asking, 'How does the war end?' With his timely and incisive new book, Collisions, Michael Kimmage has offered an important predicate question: 'Why did the war begin?' Clearly written and carefully documented, Kimmage explores the origins of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine in the context of their past relations with each other, as well as those with Europe and the United States. * David McKean, Former U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg and former Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, and author of Watching Darkness Fall: FDR, His Ambassadors, and the Rise of Adolf Hitler * Drawing on his experiences in both the academic and diplomatic worlds, Michael Kimmage has produced a beautifully written analysis of the Russian invasion of Ukraine-and of the geopolitical false assumptions that it utterly shattered. Highly recommended for both specialists and the general reader. * M.E. Sarotte, Author of Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate * In his wide-ranging account of the three post-Cold War decades, Michael Kimmage places the outbreak of Russia's war against Ukraine in the context of a series of collisions-between Moscow and Kyiv, between the United States and Russia, and between Russian and Europe. These collisions, he argues, were not inevitable, but ultimately acquired a logic of their own, culminating in Putin's decision to go to war. Essential reading for those seeking to understand what went wrong after the collapse of the USSR. * Angela Stent, Author of Putin's World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest * Michael Kimmage's Collisions is a compelling account of the causes and consequences of the brutal and devastating war by Russia against Ukraine-the largest armed conflict in Europe since the end of World War II. A historian by training with key service at the State Department during the Obama administration, Kimmage brings his talent and experience to bear in illuminating the complex background for a war that is having an extraordinary impact not only in Europe but around the world. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the aggressive war that Vladimir Putin launched against Ukraine and the West. * John J. Sullivan, former U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State * The Russian invasion of Ukraine was neither the start nor the end of a long series of wars. This book explains the origins of this bloody tragedy, its meanings, and its likely consequences. Michael Kimmage is one of the very best historians of the subject; his analysis is urgent and necessary for anyone who hopes to understand these world-changing events. * Jeremi Suri, Author of Civil War by Other Means: America's Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy * Michael Kimmage modestly caveats this work saying he's not an expert on Ukraine, but Russia's terrors require us all to become knowledgeable, and this book is a terrifically useful invitation into deeply understanding the international politics of Ukraine's struggle for independence from a malign Russian sphere of influence. * Kori Schake, Senior Fellow and Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute * [Kimmage's] excellent book contains qualities seldom present in narrating an ongoing conflict... A compelling and detailed account that reveals some little known facts and a deeply sobering analysis of Putin's invasion of Ukraine, its consequences for Russia, and the many assumptions about European security. * Zachary Irwin, Library Journal * Mr. Kimmage, whose narrative prose is a delight to read, persuasively argues that Mr. Putin in Munich demanded Russian autonomy rather than a wholesale restructuring of the "rules-based order." ... Collisions is an impressive work of concision. * Martin Di Caro, Washington Times * An astute book, cleanly written. * Richard Lofthouse * Kimmage puts it all in perspective at the very beginning of this insightful and well-written book, where he quotes from Thucydides to the effect that similar patterns will repeat throughout history. * Dr. Cliff Cunningham, Sun News Austin *