This book looks at the Russian efforts to seize the Crimea and to use the Donetsk and Luhansk republics as leverage against the Ukraine. The first operation, aided as it was by criminals and sympathizers, resulted in the seizure of a peninsula that is internationally considered a part of the Ukraine (except when it was administered by the Russian Federated Soviet Socialist Republic, but when you all live under communism the name of the particular slave labor camp you happen to be in doesn't really matter that much) . The Russian attempt to do the same thing in the Donbass region has been less successful for them, since the militia they sponsored has been met by Ukrainian militia and conventional forces. The progress of the war to date has been captured very well by the author and illustrated by maps, photographs and original artwork. Indeed, I would consider this a five-star product, except the author decided to take a jab at U.S. President Donald Trump by mentioning Putin's efforts to, and I quote, "Make Russia Great Again." This was irrelevant to a discussion of the conflict. A more useful discussion could have been had by discussing the world leadership vacuum created by the Obama administration which allowed Russia to keep the Crimea. Facts should be discussed in these books, not politics which are unconnected to the history discussed.
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