The book of the year!

Sure, 2014 isn't quite two weeks old, but already I'm reading the year's best book. Himself a native of Kyiv, Yaroslav Trofimov has for some time been the go-to war correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. With impeccable timing, he was in Ukraine's capital on February 24, 2022, when Vladimir Putin launched his "special military operation" that was supposed to take no more than ten days. Russia and Ukraine were part of the same great nation, Putin believed, and Ukrainians were eager to join his recreated verson of the Russian Empire.

Our Enemies Will Vanish (a phrase from the Ukrainian national anthem) is as exciting as a Tom Clancy novel. It's great writing and great journalism, as a reporter with an eye for breaking news tours Kyiv on the first day of war and then heads out to Hostomel airport, where Russian airborne troops have landed. Meanwhile he fills in the backstory, describing Putin and Zelensky in a few vivid words, and explaining the 2014 Donbas and Crimean invasions just as adeptly. He's a good headline writer, too: Chapter 6, detailing the capture of Snake Island by the mighty warship Moskova, is titled "Russian Warship, Go Fuck Yourself."

Do yourself a favor. Buy the book and start reading it today.