What's in the Book?

So, what's in the book? This post covers that question.

The introduction covers the basics, and Chapter One is about the history between the Ukraine and Russia. That chapter lays the groundwork for the rest of the book.

Chapter Two, the background on the political leaders was also necessary, to understand their motivations. And these are clearly, men with different points of view. Putin is both an Intelligence officer and a political animal who dreams of a Greater Russia in the style of the old Soviet Union. Zelensky is an Actor/Producer playing the role of a lifetime by being the leader Ukraine needs.

Chapters Three and Four are backgrounds on the armed forces involved. Most people don't know anything about the military, so these chapter are in part designed to give the reader an understanding of the forces and what a brigade is, as well as the Russian Battalion Tactical Group. It's also useful for wargamers to determine forces for their own games.

Chapter Five is about the weapons of the war. Again, it written so most people, who know nothing about military equipment, can get an idea of what is on the battlefield. It was easier to write than it would have been otherwise, as both sides are using mostly the same equipment at the start of the war.

Chapter Six is about the War in Donbas that started in 2014, the precursor to the current war. It can be argued that the current war is a continuation this war on a wider front and there is some truth to that. The fighting in the Donbas is where the groundwork for the success Ukraine has had over the last year in the wider war.

The events leading up to the Russian invasion in February of 2022 are in Chapter Seven. The politics, the meetings and the decision to go ahead as well as the Russian battle plan are covered in this chapter.

I broke each of the four Russian attack axis into their own chapter, to make it easier to write and read. Chapter Eight covers the thrust for Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, and the fight there. Chapter Nine is about the Kharkiv Axis, the fight for Kharkiv, Sumy, and Izium. Chapter Ten looks at the battle of the Donbas Axis, starting in 2014 and how its gone since February 2022. Chapter Eleven is about  the Crimea Axis and how early Russian success turned int a stalemate and failure.

Chapter Twelve went from being a sidebar to its own chapter, and is about the Public Relation war and how both sides have tried to spin what is going on to their benefit. This war is more that what is is happening on the battlefield; there is a war of words that both sides are using in an attempt to convince the world that are in the right. So far, this is one war the Ukrainians are winning, for a number of reasons.

A look at why things went wrong for Russian is covered in Chapter Thirteen. It lists several reasons and briefly explains each one.

There are a number of sidebars, taking a closer look at facets of this war. Subjects covered are Ukrainians in WWII, Old weapons making a comeback, fWar crimes, the Forty-mile long convoy, Logistical nightmares, Senior Russian officers reportedly killed in combat, and Trying to determine each sides casualties.

The books ends with a chronology of events covering the Feb 24 to April 7, maps of Ukraine showing the Russian advances and retreat during that time. There are appendices and sources used, as well as photo credits.

There are plenty of photos in this book, most from official sources. Photos capture that image of the war that words can't. While these photos are in the Wikipedia Commons or are public domain, there are a stark look at the damage being down to both countries, in terms of men and destruction of cities and equipment.

As I have said before this book is written to give someone who hasn't been focused on the war to understand why the two countries are at war, and how the first month of the war went. We wanted the reader to finish the book and understand what is going on without going deep into the details.

That's it for now, more later

Craig

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If you want to take a closer look at the Russian-Ukraine War Factbook, or to buy it, you can go here: https://www.amazon.com/Russia-Ukraine-War-Factbook-Craig-Reed/dp/B0BL5CRLLK/ref=sr_1_18?qid=1672081631&refinements=p_27%3ACraig+A.+Reed&s=books&sr=1-18&text=Craig+A.+Reed

or here:

https://www.casematepublishers.com/distributed-publishers/military-miniature-press/the-russia-ukraine-war-factbook.html#.Y6oA4H3MJ0w

For my other non-Battletech writing, all four of the Outcast Ops novels I co-authored with Rick Chesler are on Amazon and are part of the Kindle Direct program. In the US: 

Outcast Ops: African Firestorm on Amazon

Outcast Ops: Red Ice on Amazon

Outcast Ops: Watchlist on Amazon

Outcast Ops: Shadow Gov on Amazon!

In addition, there is a physical version of Watchlist here: Outcast Ops: Watchlist Paperback

For those in the United Kingdom,

Outcast Ops: African Firestorm on Amazon UK

Outcast Ops: Red Ice on Amazon UK 

Outcast Ops: Watchlist on Amazon UK

Outcast Ops: Shadow Gov on Amazon UK

For anyone else, please check your country's Amazon Website (if there is one).

Also, check out the other Outcast ops novels:

Outcast Ops: Game of Drones by Rick Jones and Rick Chesler

Outcast Ops: The Poseidon Initiative by Rick Chesler.

In addition, Outcast Ops novels are on audiobooks! If you're member of Audible, you can listen to them free! The audio versions can be found here: 

Outcast Ops: African Firestorm (Audible) 

Outcast Ops: Red Ice (Audible) 

Outcast Ops: Watchlist (Audible)

Outcast Ops: Shadow Gov (Audible)

The audios for Game of Drones Games of Drones (Audible) and The Poseidon Initiative The Poseidon Initiative are also up on Audible, or though Amazon!

Please read or listen and leave a review!